Blues win Perth snorefest
The heavy rain – said to be the worst in decades – that enveloped Perth on Saturday – meant the entertainment value came from the closeness of the contest and not the skills levels.
In fact – due to the conditions – the game seldom reached any respectable heights.
Tana Umaga's Blues led 17-3 at half-time and fended off the Force despite not scoring a point in the second half for their sixth win of the season.
The Blues dominated the opening half with tries from Jerome Kaino and Tevita Li, but had to defend for long periods as the home side hit back in the second term.
Force skipper Matt Hodgson ploughed over from close range in the 54th minute and former Reds centre Ben Tapuai kicked the home side to within four points with a penalty goal with 16 minutes.
Force were in the Blues' quarter for the final stages before they lost possession in a driving maul allowing the Kiwis to kill off the game.
The Blues saw out the game with 14 men after replacement forward Nic Mayhew was yellow-carded for collapsing a Force maul close to the Blues' try-line.
The win did little to help the Blues' lowly standing in the New Zealand conference despite the inconsistent Blues bouncing back after being thumped 43-5 by the Lions in South Africa last week.
It was again more heartbreak for Western Force, who are still without a home victory this season.
The Force were looking for rare consecutive wins, after beating the Sunwolves in Japan two weeks ago to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Man of the match: Brynard Stander and Matt Hodgson tried hard and ensured the Force actually were competitive. Ihaia West produced an accomplished flyhalf performance in testing conditions, while Patrick Tuipulotu was a monster up front. Our award goes to Blues centre George Moala – as he found holes in the Force defence at regular intervals.
The scorers:
For the Western Force:
Try: Hodgson
Cons: Tapuai
Pens: Prior, Tapuai
The Blues:
Tries: Kaino, Li
Cons: West 2
Pens: West
Yellow cards: Charlie Faumuina (Blues, 40 – repeated infringements, killing the ball), Nic Mayhew (Blues, 76 – repeated infringements, collapsing maul)
Teams:
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Luke Morahan, 10 Ian Prior, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (captain), 6 Brynard Stander, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Guy Millar, 2 Harry Scoble, 1 Francois Van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Anaru Rang, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Rory Walton, 20 Angus Cottrell, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Semisi Masirewa.
Blues: 15 Melani Nanai, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 George Moala, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Billy Guyton, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Ofa Tu'ungafasi.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Nic Mayhew, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Hoani Matenga, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Bryn Hall, 22 Matt McGahan, 23 Male Sa'u.
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
