The Western Force have gone down gallantly 45-21 to the ladder-leading NSW Waratahs whose class and quality proved too much at Saturday afternoon’s Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s clash at UWA Sports Park.
The result means the Waratahs have clinched the Super W minor premiership with one round to go before finals, while the Force - who secured their club-first Super W semi-finals berth on Friday thanks to the Reds' 17-15 win over the Rebels - are still in the mix for a home semi-final.
Three first-half Sammy Wood penalty goals kept the Force in touch at 12-9, but the Waratahs pulled away with two tries before the interval after Harono Te Iringa’s yellow card to lead 24-9.
Layne Morgan dotted before the visitors capitalised on another yellow card, this time to Canadian hooker Sara Cline, with a second Brittany Merlo try followed by impressive winger Maya Stewart’s solo effort to open up a 45-9 lead.
But the Force kept pushing, scoring two tries in the final 10 minutes from vice-captain Michaela Leonard and fly-half Renae Nona, in her first start since her switch west from the Queensland Reds.
The Force had already clinched a Super W semi-finals berth for the first time in club history following Friday’s 17-15 Reds’ win over the Melbourne Rebels.
But Saturday’s loss dents the side’s hopes of a home semi-final, after the second-placed Fijian Drua beat the fourth-placed ACT Brumbies 20-7 in the other game to firm up their grip on second spot.
The Drua have 13 points with the Force and Brumbies in third and fourth respectively on nine. The Force travel away to the Brumbies in the final round from 12:35pm WST Saturday, while the Drua host the last-placed Rebels with a win to lock in second spot.
The Force, however, have a few concerns heading into that Round 5 clash with Aiysha Wigley and Alanis Toia both exiting Saturday’s game with injuries.
The Waratahs opened the scoring in the third minute with Leilani Nathan scoring down the left edge, with Arabella McKenna converting for a 7-0 lead.
The visitors added another on the quarter hour mark with full-back Caitlin Halse scoring after Skye Churchill’s line break. McKenzie missed against the post with the conversion attempt.
The Force rallied with good field position for the next 10 minutes, leading to three straight successful penalty goals taken by teenage scrum-half Wood to cut the margin, down 12-9. Among the penalty kicks was a 35m effort from Wood.
Anneka Stephens and Sheree Hume combined for a turnover leading to Wood’s third penalty kick as the Force built momentum.
But the Waratahs crossed for a third time after a 32nd minute yellow card to front-rower Harono Te Iringa, with Brittany Merlo barging over. McKenzie missed the extras.
The Waratahs opened up a 24-9 half-time lead with Nathan dotted down the middle and McKenzie converting.
In the 43rd minute, Stewart found space to break clear and offloaded to Morgan, with McKenzie converting.
Cline was yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the 46th minute and the Tahs capitalised with Merlo rolling over at the back of a maul. McKenzie converted for a 38-9 lead.
On the hour mark, Stewart raced clear to score with McKenzie adding the extras, opening up a 45-9 lead.
Winger Numi Tupaea came on to make her Force debut in the final 20 minutes, having been a late inclusion following Saelua Leaula's late withdrawal with a minor knock.
The Force had good field position late, with Leonard held up over the try-line after Nicole Ledington’s line break into the 22.
Ruby Anderson was yellow card for NSW and the Force capitalised with Leonard scoring after half a dozen phases.
Atasi Lafai was also binned late for the Tahs, and the Force made the most of the two player advantage with captain Trilleen Pomare offloading to set up Nona’s try on the final siren.
Western Force 21
Tries: Leonard (76’), Nona (80’)
Conversions: Ledington (1/2)
Penalties: Wood (3/3)
NSW Waratahs 45
Tries: Nathan (3’, 38’), Halse (15’), Merlo (33’, 50’), Morgan (44’), Stewart (61’)
Conversions: McKenzie (5/7)
Penalties: Nil
