Force edge Rebels in dour derby
The Western Force ended their season on a winning note, beating the Rebels 13-11 in a dour match in Melbourne on Friday.
It was an uninspiring match, with just one try each – both in the final quarter.
Despite the win the Force still finish last in the Super Rugby standings and the rebels remain in 10th place.
A length-of-the-field Luke Morahan try ruined Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham's farewell as the Force pulled off an upset over the third-ranked Australian conference side away.
Higginbotham will join Japanese club Green Rockets after this year's World Cup.
However, the Wallabies back row forward was denied a winning swansong by two superb individual acts from Morahan.
The Force wing first calmly collected a chip-kick from Higginbotham, who was in a great position to grab the opening try after a clearing kick fell his way in the second half.
Then 18 minutes later when the Rebels were threatening, Morahan dashed away straight down the middle of the field to score – after a Marcel Brache intercept – to give his side a 13-6 lead.
Telusa Veainu came off the bench to cross in the corner in the 72nd minute to make things interesting in an overall drab match between both sides out of the play-off reckoning.
However, Mike Harris failed to convert to level the scores.
Harris also put a late drop-goal attempt wide.
The Force led 6-3 at half-time after the television match official had a big say in proceedings.
Rebels wing Cam Crawford looked to have scored the game's opening try in the 31st minute, following up a brilliant run with a show of strength on the line.
It was disallowed by the TMO, who penalised Tom English for obstruction.
The Force then celebrated prop Chris Heiberg's bulldozing effort, only for replays to confirm Sam Jeffries had slipped an arm under the ball.
Man of the match: It was a game of little excitement, even with the close finish. The high error count on both sides made it difficult to find players standing out and worthy of this award. The most entertaining aspect of this was the commentary of former Wallaby hooker Tom Lawton.
The scorers:
For the Rebels:
Try: Veainu
Pens: Harris 2
For the Western Force:
Try: Morahan
Con: Holmes
Pens: Holmes 2
Teams:
Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Bryce Hegarty, 13 Tom English, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Cam Crawford, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Colby Fainga'a, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Scott Fuglistaller, 21 Jordy Reid, 22 Ben Meehan, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Angus Cottrell, 7 Matt Hodgson (captain), 6 Chris Alcock, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Chris Heiberg.
Replacements: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Guy Millar, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Patrick Dellit.
Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: James Leckie (Australia), Ed Martin (Australia)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
