Western Force head coach Simon Cron was left to rue missed opportunities in Saturday’s gut-wrenching 24-22 loss to the Fijian Drua in Lautoka.
The Force had a handful of late opportunities to win the game or draw level but couldn’t take them, with the defeat seeing the Drua move past the Force into ninth on the Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific ladder after Round 9.
The visitors had rallied after trailing 19-7 at the interval, scoring three second-half tries.
But the Force struggled from the tee, making one of five attempts in humid conditions, while they spurned a late 30m lineout after the siren.
Cron reflected on those missed opportunities as well as the first half where they couldn’t capitalize on good attacking chances as well as allowing the Drua to play their brand.
“The hardest part reviewing today will be the opportunities we created and didn’t take,” Cron told reporters.
“We were mauling over the line twice and somehow we went individual and went to ground.
“In that first half we put a lot of contestable kicks up, but we weren’t in the contest. You can’t give the Drua free ball like that. We’ve got to make sure somebody’s in the air with them.
“As the game went on, I thought the boys fought back really well. There was a lot of fight in the team to get themselves back in the game. We had the opportunity to win it and we didn’t execute.”
Force captain Jeremy Williams, who was one of the side’s standout players, agreed with Cron.
He said: “I’d say the same (as Cron). Up forward we were dominating in set piece. It was one of the strengths in the game.
“Like Crono said, when it comes down to the last plays, we’ve got to nail our stuff and we didn’t. That hurts us.”
The result leaves the Force in 10th, sitting nine points outside the top six, with a game against the sixth-placed Crusaders to come next Saturday night at HBF Park. Williams, however, said the players weren’t looking at the ladder.
“I don’t need to keep them focused,” Williams said. “They’re already focused themselves. Everyone is laser focused on what we need to do to win each game.
“In terms of the table, it’s not something we think about.
“We review our opposition that we’ve got in the coming week. We focus on how to get the best outcome that week. We don’t look too far ahead.”
Zac Lomax made his Force debut, coming on for the final 20 minutes and having some bright moments, including an excellent aerial catch and initiating an attacking rebound which led to Will Harris’ late try.
Cron said they’d hoped to get Lomax into the game earlier, but illness within the squad meant he was held back, limiting his opportunity to make an impact.
“She was a bit of a juggling act at the end,” Cron said. “We had a couple of guys going down with a bit of gastro.
“We were holding Zac a bit longer than we would’ve liked. It would’ve been good to get him on earlier. We had to hold off.
“He’s just finding his feet. He didn’t get much opportunity today. We didn’t give him the ball a whole lot down the edges.
“He’ll be disappointed he didn’t get a lot of ball. That’s how the game starts for him.”
Looking forward to the Crusaders’ game next Saturday, Cron said: “Re-group. Look at these opportunities that we squandered in this game and how we fix that and then move forward.”
Saturday night’s game against the Crusaders, which kicks off in an evening slot at 7:55pm, has been titled ‘Party At The Park’, with the Force bringing back the Rapid Rugby excitement with fireworks, pyrotechnics, a saxophonist, DJs and a bucking bull among other activations. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.
