Force to investigate horror run of slow starts

REACTION: The Western Force have vowed to find a fix for their horror starts after enduring yet another early flop during Saturday’s 24-41 Super Rugby loss to the Waratahs.

The Force trailed 0-24 after 15 minutes in a period of the game that cost them the chance of victory.

It followed a recent worrying trend for the Force.

The Brumbies led 20-3 after 17 minutes against the Force before going on to secure a one-point win earlier this month.

And the Rebels opened up a 13-0 lead after 20 minutes in what also resulted in a one-point loss to the Force.

Stand-in Force skipper Kyle Godwin says enough is enough.

“It seems to be the same story for us unfortunately, we don’t know what’s going wrong,” he said.

“There’s a lot of soul searching [to do] again. You can’t win games if you give a 20-point lead like that at the start.

“We just have to have a good hard look at ourselves. I’m a firm believer that you play the way you train, so maybe we have to look at things there.

“For us it’s back to the drawing board.”

The Force lost captain Feleti Kaitu’u (calf), Jeremy Thrush (soreness), Bayley Kuenzle (gastro), and Toni Pulu (concussion) before kick-off.

It followed on from losing Wallabies enforcer Izack Rodda and scrumhalf Issak Fines-Leleiwasa to COVID-19 protocols earlier in the week.

But attack coach Mark Ozich, who was filling in as coach for the isolating Tim Sampson, said there were no excuses for the horror start.

“It’s just excuse city really. Everyone is in the same boat,” he said.

“We lost a few guys, and lots of teams have that situation.

“The first 15 minutes, 24-0 down, the game is effectively over.

“It’s been an Achilles heel for us. We’re aware of it and talking about it and implementing things at training.

“It’s on us, and we’ve got to get a solution quickly.”

The Waratahs improved their record to 5-3 with the win, but they narrowly missed out on securing a bonus point in the six-tries-to-four victory.

They came close to scoring what would have been the bonus-point try after the final siren, but wing Mark Nawaqanitawase was deemed to have knocked on during his intercept.

“I was a bit agitated with that,” Waratahs coach Darren Coleman said.

“We were really chasing that…and to not get it was frustrating.

“That soured what was otherwise a good night. The bonus point would have been the icing on the cake.”

The Waratahs will be aiming to continue their strong recent form when they take on the Chiefs in Melbourne on Friday.