The Western Force have suffered a frustrating 40-19 defeat to the reigning Super Rugby Pacific champion Blues at Eden Park in a dent to the side’s finals hopes.
The Blues got the win with the bonus point, secured by Josh Beehre’s 75th minute try, to see them leapfrog past the Force into the finals spots in sixth on the Super Rugby ladder.
The defeat was frustrating for the Force who had the better of possession, with 142-81 carries and 519-308 metres gained, but weren’t helped by ball handling errors in greasy conditions, particularly in the first half.
The home side were dangerous whenever they went inside their 22, led by fly-half Beauden Barrett who set up several tries as they ran in six tries to three, with Cole Forbes scoring a double.
Kurtley Beale made a triumphant return after 10 months out with an Achilles injury, scoring a second-half try, finishing with 122 metres gained from 15 carries with three defenders beaten.
Super Rugby Pacific leading try scorer Carlo Tizzano scored his 12th of the season, the joint most by a forward in a single season in league history.
Harry Potter was outstanding on the wing with his pace and power with ball in hand, totalling 121 metres gained.
After two weeks in New Zealand, the Force return to Perth next for an important Round 13 game against the ACT Brumbies at HBF Park on Saturday 10 May 5:35pm WST.
The Club will celebrate its 20th season anniversary at the Force-Brumbies’ game with past players to be paraded pre-game. Tickets via Ticketmaster.
The Force had plenty of attacking pressure early without reward, with the lineout functioning well but ball handling errors were too common.
The Blues took their opportunities with midfielder Xavi Taela finding a gap to break inside the 22, before prop Marcel Renata dotted with a pick-and-go in the left corner.
The reigning Super Rugby champions found another hole in the Force defence with Forbes crossing under the sticks and Barrett converting for a 12-0 lead after 20 minutes.
But the Force continued to find ways inside the Blues’ 22, with Potter making numerous breaks without success, while Tizzano crossed only to be denied by the TMO.
The Force were rewarded on their fifth entry into the 22 after a series of 10m lineouts, with Tizzano burrowing his way over for a 12-7 half-time deficit.
The Blues pulled ahead straight after the interval, with half-time substitute AJ Lam scoring down the left edge from Barrett’s wide switch after Rieko Ioane’s break.
But the Force replied with Beale capping his return game with a try down the left edge after Mac Grealy’s release from Ben Donaldson’s cross-field kick on advantage. Donaldson’s fine conversion from the angle made it 19-14.
The home side were denied another Lam try by the TMO, but they wouldn’t be denied when lock Laghlan McWhannell charged his way over. The Blues’ offence started to get on top, with Barrett spotting Forbes unmarked out wide to score again for a 33-14 lead.
The Force kept pushing, knowing bonus points even in defeat would be important, with hooker Nic Dolly getting over from a rolling maul after several Blues’ penalties to narrow the gap.
TMO intervened again when Forbes incorrectly grounded attempting his third from Barrett’s kick, only for Beehre to score shortly after to get them back in the bonus.
Blues 40
Tries: Renata (16’), Forbes 2x (20’, 59’), Lam (42’), McWhannell (54’), Beehre (74’)
Conversions: Barrett 5/6
Penalties: Nil
Western Force
Tries: Tizzano (37’), Beale (46’), Dolly (68’)
Conversions: Donaldson 2/3
Penalties: Nil
@ Eden Park, Auckland
Western Force Match Report, Powered by Altrad
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