Western Force thrashed Brumbies in derby – Super Rugby match report
David Smith the winger stormed through for two tries and paved way for Western Force to grab a 27-19 win on Sunday in Canberra against ACT Brumbies. It was a major win for Western Forces, as the anticipation for this clash was high and the rivalry was fiercer
than ever.
A touch down by James O’Connor resulted in sudden confidence in his side and he also slotted ten points with his boots and shortened the gap on this year’s Super Rugby table to only one point from their opponents.
Matt Giteau, who was at the opposite position to O’Connor was the only one to score for his side. He slotted a conversion and scored a brilliant try. The first half was good for Giteau and his side, as they kept the possession mostly under control. Giteau
scored four penalties alone, giving his side a good start and a nice standing, but it didn’t seem to work out when his team mates couldn’t chip in the required support.
Brumbies were doing business in first five minutes, as Giteau scored his first penalty. Giteau took the responsibility alone and got assistance by inside centre Cristian Lealiifano as he made his way to score the only try. The fly half capitalized on the
line break and made the only major scoring possible.
Brumbies was on a ten point advantage after the 26 minutes in the games and the lead was maintained till the last three minutes of the first half. The Brumbies were threatened when Rory Sidey, the Force centre made an entry by 75 meters away from touchline
and stormed hs way all the way to score the first try for Western Force. To add to the damage, it was Willie Ripia who added extras to get the score to 10-7 and finished the first half almost balanced.
Matt Giteau took his side to a better position after extending the lead to 6 points. Force’s response to Giteau’s second penalty was abrupt and fierce. Smith collected the ball and stormed through to claim his debut try in Super 15 season, since he transferred
from Hurricanes.
O’Connor attacked again and scored a conversion taking the scores to 14-13 and took his side at advantage in the match for the first time. O’Connor and Giteau were having battle over penalties, and scored two each after that. The scores went up to 20-19
in favor of Western Force.
When there were only three minutes left, Smith did his magic again and crossed over to score the second try of his Super Rugby career for Western Force. The try was converted by O’Connor and the scores ended up to 27-19, giving Western Force the much required
victory.
Nathan Sharpe, the skipper for Western Force was relieved and commented after the match, “I'm stoked with the win for the boys. Because you toil away all year and sometimes things don't go your way and on the back of a pretty rusty first half we came back.
I'm hoping that's a sign of better things to come from us.”
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