White staying focused: 'We'll celebrate tonight but it's just one win'

Sat, Apr 20, 2024, 1:48 PM
NT
by Nick Taylor
Western Force head coach Simon Cron and acting captain Nic White spoke to the media following the Round 9 triumph over the Crusaders.

Western Force captain Nic White says the side will keep their boots planted firmly in the grass and not get carried away with Saturday night's sensational 37-15 win over the Crusaders at HBF Park.

The Force travel to New Zealand for a crucial clash against the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday (Kick-off 3.05pm WA time).

A win would see them leap the Kiwi side.

Scrum-half White and his halves partner Ben Donaldson controlled the show as the Force ran in four tries to the Crusaders' three and Donaldson kicked five penalties and a conversion.

It was the first Force victory over the Crusaders in more than a decade and the first time White had been in a winning side against them.

"It's the scalp I've been chasing for a long time," White said.

But the win would count for nothing if they don't back it up on Saturday, he said.

"Tonight will mean nothing if go we over there and forget everything we've learnt," he said.

"It's just one win. We'll celebrate that and it's all business now and we go over to New Zealand. It will be hard.

"It's worth double points for us against a side that's in our end of the table. It's a really important game."

He said having had just one previous win against the Reds had been hard but they would not chase shadows and would stick to the coaches' instructions.

"It's been a tough trot but we haven't gone off script, off the page of what the plan has been, right from the pre-season," he said. "We've stayed the course.

"Under pressure it's very easy to start chasing shadows but we've stayed true to what we believe in, what we are building.

"It's been unbelievably solid from top down. We'll stay the course."

Coach Simon Cron said the display had been the best example of playing as a complete team this season.

He was particularly pleased with the defensive effort.

"To be able to beat the Crusaders we had to play as a team and it was our best example of playing as a team," he said.

"We can't afford to have anyone off their game and they weren't.

"Defence was outstanding, and our best example of that this year.

"They boys kept getting off the ground, they kept coming off the line. That was really pleasing.

"Our ball skills and the moving of the ball when they (were) needed after a hard carry, a hard clean, was good too.

"The forward pack hunted together and the backs were the same. The boys will take a lot of confidence from that. It's about going again." Both White and Cron were full of praise for newly signed Kurtley Beale who started his first game at full-back.

White said Beale was often at his best without the ball.

"Everyone wants to watch what he can do with the ball, but the real skill is when he doesn't have the ball, communicating what the best option is," White said.

"He's a real team player. He's world class, we know that." 

Cron said Beale had been "100 per cent" since arriving after his long lay-off from Super Rugby.

"He's committed," Cron said. "What he adds to us is the communication, (it) gives players like Donno (Ben Donaldson), Hamish Stewart, Chase (Tiatia) confidence."

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