Force looking to 'respond'

Western Force coach Michael Foley was looking for a better "response" from his team, following their disappointing loss at the weekend.

The Force are stuck at the bottom of the standings after a second successive defeat – going down 14-27 to the in Perth at the weekend.

The good news is that Hugh McMeniman was cleared of any serious neck issues.

McMeniman was stretchered off in the first half, but remains a chance to play against the Melbourne Rebels in Perth on Saturday.

"There was a crack, but it appears he's going to be ok," Foley said.

"The pleasing thing is he didn't take a head knock."

Foley added that it was important that his team responded after the loss.

"The opposition had the kick-off and for the first eight to nine minutes we pretty much just gave them the ball back through poor kicking," he said.

"We had to do a hell of a lot of defending, so they are fresh and they are coming at us and we are having to absorb that pressure.

"Once the opposition gets a couple of tries on you the mood tends to drop a bit and it takes a bit of time to get back into the game.

"The other thing in the first half was that our contact was not good enough. They out-enthused us in that area which is normally a strength for us.

"To the players' credit they regrouped at half-time and in the second half they played much better rugby but you can't get away from that if you give a good team, like the Brumbies, a start and momentum then it's going to be a hard day at the office."