Western Force captain Trilleen Pomare was beaming with pride despite falling short in Friday’s Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s semi-final 25-14 to the reigning champions, Fijian Drua.
The game was in the balance until the final play, with the Force having an attacking line-out at 18-14 down, only for a turnover to lead to Atelaite Buna finding space down the right to burst clear and score the game-settling try.
It ended a see-sawing battle where the Force led 14-10 early in the second half with three Samantha Wood penalties and one Siutiti Ma’ake try.
The narrow defeat came after the Force spent the week on the east coast following last Saturday’s 38-36 loss to the ACT Brumbies. The side trained at the AIS in Canberra before travelling to Fiji on Wednesday with two buses and a flight on a big travel day.
“Proud of our girls,” Pomare said post-game. “We had our moments out there.
“I’m not going to blame the travel. We were in it until the 80th.
“We had our opportunities, we didn’t convert. But congrats to the Drua they always show up.
“I think we had our opportunities. We knew infringements were going to come.
“We just didn’t capitalise. Still proud of our girls. Proud of our city back home. I know you’re supporting us.”
There were four lead changes throughout the pulsating contest in front of a sold-out crowd at Suva’s HFC Bank Stadium.
“It’s crazy, hey,” Pomare said about the crowd.
“We know the Fijians show up for their rugby. Congrats to the Drua.
“We can’t take that away from them. They played an 80-minute performance, we lapsed in moments and they capitalised.”
The result ends the Force’s Super W season with the side to travel back to Perth on Saturday.
The Drua will face either the NSW Waratahs or ACT Brumbies in the Super W Grand Final on Sunday 28 April at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane.
