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‘It could’ve been worse…’: Ex-Wallaby reacts to Force’s ‘poor’ loss to Blues
Already sitting at the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific standings going into round seven, the Western Force’s season has gone from bad to worse after a “poor result” on the road against the Blues at Auckland’s Eden Park.
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The Force, who upset the Queensland Reds on March 23 for their one win of the season to date, travelled across the ditch to take on a star-studded Blues outfit that includes the likes of Hoskins Sotutu, Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane.
But the match got away from them quite quickly. All Black Ofa Tu’ungafasi started the Blues’ barrage of point-scoring fun with the opening try in the 12th minute. The hosts led 28-3 at the break and continued to dominate the fixture during the second 40.
Hoskins Sotutu, Taufa Funaki, Corey Evans and AJ Lam added a try each as the Blues ran away with an utterly dominant 50-3 win over the Force.
While fellow Aussie side the NSW Waratahs also struggling for wins in Super Rugby Pacific, former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles has explained why the Force are clearly “worse” at the moment.
“That’s insane. It could’ve been worse,” Hoiles said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts.
“The Blues… what they’ve evolved on this year is the tough tight stuff. To be able to find 50 so quickly as they did, that’s a poor result for the Force.
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“They’ve won one game and they’re looking worse than the Tahs, you’ve got to be honest. The Tahs aren’t going down 50-3, they lost by two points at home to the Blues.”
Looking to turn their season around, the Force last week announced the signing of 95-Test Wallaby Kurtley Beale on a short-term deal until the end of the current season.
Match Summary 
0
Penalty Goals
1
8
Tries
0
5
Conversions
0
0
Drop Goals
0
112
Carries
102
8
Line Breaks
2
11
Turnovers Lost
17
5
Turnovers Won
7
Beale, who has been playing some rugby with Sydney club Randwick, was recruited following the season-ending ankle injury to impressive outside back Harry Potter.
The 2011 John Eales Medallist will bring some invaluable experience with him out west, but as Hoiles joked, “He’s not worth 47 points.”
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“He’ll help them but no one is,” Hoiles, who coached Beale at The Wicks, explained.
“I’m really happy for him. He needs that. I would’ve been happy for him to stay (at Randwick) but at the same time, he’s got aspirations to play at the highest level.
“I hope he goes over there, and what he’s done in a really short period of time… if you asked every player in our side ‘how was he on and off the field’ you’d get seven of eight out of 10 from everyone.
“But the guys that you’d get 10 out of 10 (from) would be the centres, the 10, the 15. He makes people around him better and I don’t think we have enough players in Australian rugby that help other people improve.
“I’m hoping that we see a spike in performance from (Ben) Donno, from Hamish Stewart, from Will Harris who hasn’t really fired over there this year. That’s what good senior players can do.
“He’s still got it, mate.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
54 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
54 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
54 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
54 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
54 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
54 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
54 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
54 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
54 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
54 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
54 Go to comments