Sharpe says goodbye to Perth
The Western Force was unable to provide inaugural captain Nathan Sharpe with a winning home farewell despite a spirited second-half comeback, eventually going down to the Brumbies 28-17.
Sharpe, playing in his 161st Super Rugby match and 91st for the West Australian province, led his side onto the field accompanied by his sons Cooper and Franklin, however his side was unable to provide a fairy tale finish to his Super Rugby career in Perth.
"One thing that was great was the support I received from everywhere around the world and I'm very, very grateful for that because it was really nice," Sharpe said. "In the context of the game it's disappointing because you want to win those games, and unfortunately it didn't go that way for us and so it makes it a bit bittersweet."
Force defence and skills coach Phil Blake said that while he was pleased to see his side fight back in the second half, the damage had been done by the 40-minute mark.
"Matches are hard to win as it is without giving up 22 points," he said. "It was disappointing – it was nice they came back in the second half through sheer weight of possession and respect for the ball and scored some nice tries, but unfortunately it was that first half that let us down.
"We had no field position. I didn't think our kicking was a problem, I thought our biggest problem throughout the night was our missed tackles. Our first-up tackles were ineffective, particularly in the first half, they were going through us and hence leading to tries.
"In the second half, we kept the ball, we strung phases together, we asked questions of the defensive line, we cracked down that wall and we scored points and kept the scoreboard ticking over.
"[Losing Matt Hodgson] was a big blow which didn't help us but I thought Locky McCaffery played quite well when he was out there and gave us a different dimension to our game."
