Western Force captain Jeremy Williams says the side failed to capitalize enough on their momentum swings in Saturday’s see-sawing 39-31 loss away to the Highlanders.
The Force led at half-time after back-to-back tries late in the opening 40 and took a 31-29 lead into the final 12 minutes of the contest, before falling to an eight-point defeat after Caleb Tangitau’s try followed by Reesjan Pasitoa’s conversion and penalty.
The contest was evenly fought, ending up with five tries each and five lead changes across the 80 minutes.
The Force rallied from a 29-21 deficit with 15 minutes to play, with tries to Carlo Tizzano and George Bridge in quick succession as the momentum swung.
Earlier, the WA side had trailed 10-0 and 17-7 in the first half, before tries from Williams and Hamish Stewart shortly before half-time earned them a lead at the interval.
“It was swings and roundabouts out there with control and momentum,” Williams told reporters after the game.
“It swayed, at times they had the momentum and we’d get it back, the give it back to them, then get it.
“It’s really important once we get the momentum, we keep the foot on the throttle and we capitalise on the opportunities we got. I don’t think we did that well enough tonight.”
It was an intriguing contest with the Highlanders arguably more potent on the ball with their runners like inside centre Timoci Tavatavanawai having 67 metres gained from 12 carries. However, several of the Highlanders’ tries came from kicks as they folded over the Force.
On the flipside, the Force’s kicking game caused the ‘Landers issues throughout the match, earning the WA side valuable territory to strike, with their lineout dominant. That evolved in the second half, with Williams elaborating.
“During the game, our game managers changed our kick strat to start going long,” Williams said.
“I think we start getting a bit more pay from that, getting them into the corners and making them play out of their own end.
“It was a good fix on the run. We’ve definitely got things we need to work on this week.”
Force head coach Simon Cron said the defeat was “disappointing”.
“We didn’t fire too many shots in that game,” he said. “I felt defensively our lineout was really good. We put pressure on them and were able to turn the ball over there.
“But you’ve got to kick well, chase well against kiwi teams or they’ll open you up. There’s some great examples of that today where we didn’t kick it out and ended up absorbing a heap more defence.
“They were able to chip over the top and get in behind us. We didn’t get into the chip channel. Kick and chase is a big part of the game.”
The Force weren’t able to capitalize on their half-time lead and momentum in the second 40.
“I felt like we hadn’t had too many shots in the first half but we were in control which was good,” Cron said.
“We were in a good spot at half-time. The problem is in the second half just letting a couple of those kick battles and that chip over the top to score two tries.
“Four of their tries came from those kick battles… I think we can spark a bit better and be better in our chase connection, so if they do get the ball we’re not back on our line.”
The Force are next in action against the Hurricanes in Napier from 2:05pm WST on Friday, live on Stan Sport.
The Hurricanes’ clash is the third and final one of the Force’s three-game New Zealand tour where the group will have spent almost two-and-a-half weeks together on the road.
“They’re definitely a tight group,” Cron said. “For the Force, going on tour is part of our DNA.
“We have to be able to go on longer tours than others. That’s OK. It’s probably a better outcome than going home, away, home, away. That’s a bit tough.
“This group are tight. They’ll tighten up again after this game and look at how we can fix it.
“We’ve got a six-day turnaround now. We have to focus on the critical things we can fix and get into it.”
