Force playing mind games
Force coach Michael Foley said that his team will need a much better attitude when they face the Lions in Perth next weekend.
Foley was critical of his team's mental state at Newlands on Saturday which he believes was the main reason behind their 24-8 defeat to the Stormers.
The Force coach said that the Stormers had simply wanted the victory more and added that his team will need a major attitude adjustment if they are to get back on the winning path at home next week.
"I think we were out-enthused tonight and that is probably why I am so disappointed.
"They get the contest going their way and if you are not in the right frame of mind it is very hard to get yourself back into the contest.
"I come back to our attitude going into the game, it was off. We have accepted that and we have spoken about it.
"The good thing is there is an opportunity for us to address it," he said.
Whilst impressed with the Stormers, Foley said that the Force could have claimed a clean sweep on their South African tour if they had been more clinical.
"Our goal wasn't just to win one game on this tour, we came here to win two games. If you go into any contest and your attitude is slightly off and the opposition is ready to go like the Stormers were then things will go against you early.
"There is nothing out of our control that cost us that game, the winning of that game was within our control.
"The things that we could have controlled tonight were the things that made the difference in the game.
"Early on I thought we did a lot of defending but we didn't get off the line as aggressively as we have been in that area.
"Opportunities did come our way, which they always do in a game, and we just didn't take them," he said.
The Force said that his side still has a long way to go before being considered genuine play-off contenders, starting next week against a dangerous Lions side looking for their first win on tour.
"I have been very clear all the way along that we have got a lot to do if we want to be seriously considered as play-off contenders.
"There are other goals for us to achieve before we can get close to being considered finalists or semifinalists and the reality is that we haven't done those things yet so we need to just keep our feet on the ground and keep working
"We have a very tough game next week against the Lions, we are up against another very good South African side that shocked a few people this year with the results they have got.
"They have got an extremely good goal-kicker, a good maul, a good scrum so that is going to be a tough contest for us back at home and how we play at home and how we front at home is very important to us," he added.
By Michael de Vries
