Emirates Western Force

Hurricanes (NZ)

YOUTHFUL FORCE GO DOWN TO 'CANES

A brave but under-manned Emirates Western Force side has gone down 47-22 to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night with the injury hit West Australian’s giving Super Rugby debuts to four players at Westpac Stadium.

The visitors making their presence felt in a positive opening half but were left to rue some basic one-on-one defensive lapses as the home side capitalised to score five of their seven tries after the break.  While the Force scored three tries of their own it was the missed one-on-one tackles that allowed too much space for the Kiwis.

“I was very happy with the first half performance, particularly the 10 minute period before the break where we really started to get some momentum,” Coach John Mitchell said.

“But you can’t build pressure or maintain pressure when you miss one on one tackles and I think there were at least five times that happened and they capitalised.  Game over.

“We threw a lot more into attack this week, last week we didn’t throw a lot at the Brumbies, but I thought we built quite nicely.  We still have more to do and one area where we need to progress in attack is being more patient on the goal line and stick to plan.”

The Emirates Western Force opened the scoring through James O’Connor when he punished the Hurricanes for creeping offside to slot a 30m penalty from straight in front of the posts.  Willie Ripia replied with a penalty of his own when the visitors were penalised for the same infringement, taking the score to 3-all after 10 minutes.

The ‘Canes added a try when Cory Jane dropped on a Tamaiti Ellison grubber after Ma’a Nonu had broken the line to set up good attacking position. Ripia could not convert from the right sideline.

A scrum penalty blown against former Wellington tighthead prop, Tim Fairbrother, resulted in three more points to the home side.  A second perfectly-executed grubber from Ellison put David Smith over in what was almost a mirror image of the first try. Ripia’s conversion from the left hand sideline made the score 18-3.

The Force hit back just two minutes later when a Dane Haylett-Petty bust set up Josh Tatupu, who juggled Mitch Inman’s final pass before crossing in the corner.  O’Connor’s attempted conversion hit both the left hand upright and the crossbar before bouncing back into the field of play, leaving the score 18-8.

Matt Hodgson looked to have crossed in the 32^nd minute, but referee Vinny Munro ruled he had been held up.

The home side started brightly in the second half, with flanker Michael Paterson making the most of a turnover to finish in the corner and extend the lead to 23-8 in the 42^nd minute.  Ellison was the creator for the third time when he slipped a tackle to put Smith over for his second try, this time on first phase from a five-metre scrum.

The visitors regained their composure and built a solid attacking run which resulted in a maiden Super Rugby try to Dane Haylett-Petty who was put into a gap by O’Connor.  The fullback converted, and the margin was back to 28-15.

The Hurricanes responded with two tries in four minutes, to prop Neemia Tialata and centre Ma’a Nonu, to split the game open and lead 40-15 with 12 minutes left.  Reserve scrumhalf Tyson Keats joined the scorers when he gleefully accepted a pass from returning backrower Rodney So’oialo to cross from 5m out.

Chris O’Young scored a consolation try in the final minute, which was no less than the gallant WA side deserved for their efforts, to make the final score 47-22.

Matt Hodgson and Ben McCalman worked tirelessly for the men in blue, while Nathan Sharpe led from the front. Four players – Ryan Tyrrell, Stefano Hunt, Joelin Rapana and Luke Jones – made their Super Rugby debuts off the bench in the second half.

Tamaiti Ellison, David Smith, Tialata and Piri Weepu were strong contributors for the victors.

The Emirates Western Force will host the Chiefs at ME Bank Stadium on Saturday 27 March in week three of the Investec Bank Super 14.

BY THE CLOCK

3^rd min – Penalty goal kicked by James O’Connor. Emirates Western Force lead 3-0.

10^th min – Penalty goal kicked by Willie Ripia. 3-all.

14^th min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Cory Jane. Not converted. Hurricanes lead 8-3.

19^th min – Penalty goal kicked by Ripia. Hurricanes lead 11-3.

22^nd min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by David Smith. Converted by Ripia. Hurricanes lead 18-3.

25^th min – Try to the Emirates Western Force scored by Josh Tatupu. Not converted. Hurricanes lead 18-8.

32^nd min – Richard Stanford replaces Tom Hockings (blood)

38^th min – Hockings replaces Stanford (blood return)

HALF TIME: Emirates Western Force 8 Hurricanes 18

42^nd min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Michael Paterson. Not converted. Hurricanes lead 23-8.

54^th min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Smith. Not converted. Hurricanes lead 28-8.

59^th min – Nic Henderson replaces Matt Dunning.

60^th min – Try to the Emirates Western Force scored by Dane Haylett-Petty. Converted by O’Connor. Hurricanes lead 28-15.

64^th min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Neemia Tialata. Not converted. Hurricanes lead 33-15.

66^th min – Chris O’Young and Joelin Rapana replace Brett Sheehan and Haylett-Petty.

67^th min – Stanford replaces Hockings.

67^th min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Ma’a Nonu. Converted by Piri Weepu. Hurricanes lead 40-15.

72^nd min – Ryan Tyrrell and Stefano Hunt replace Pek Cowan and Sam Harris

73^rd min – Try to the Hurricanes scored by Tyson Keats. Converted by Aaron Cruden. Hurricanes lead 47-15.

74^th min – Luke Jones and Dunning replace Sam Wykes and Tim Fairbrother.

80^th min – Try to the Emirates Western Force scored by Chris O’Young. Converted by O’Connor. Hurricanes lead 47-22.

FULL TIME:

Emirates Western Force 22 (Tatupu, Haylett-Petty, O’Young tries; O’Connor 2/3 con, 1/2 pens)

Hurricanes 47 (Smith 2, Jane, Paterson, Tialata, Nonu, Keats tries; Ripia 1/4 cons, 2/2 pens, Weepu 1/2 cons, Cruden 1/1 con)

http://www.rugbywa.com.au/news/2010/ewf_news/feb/20100220_ewf_v_canes,57455.html