Freakish effort from Carlo Tizzano can't save Western Force in Perth

The Western Force’s quest for a maiden finals berth seems forlorn after just two rounds of the Super Rugby Pacific season.

Another mighty effort from freakish flanker Carlo Tizzano was not enough to stop the Force from suffering a 42-32 loss to the Blues in a see-sawing nine-try affair in Perth on Saturday.

After collapsing in the searing heat against the Brumbies last Saturday, the Force relinquished a three-point halftime lead to suffer a second-straight home defeat and slump to the bottom of the ladder.

The victory extended the Blues’ winning streak over the Force to 14 matches and consigned Simon Cron’s Perth side to a sorry eighth successive Super Rugby Pacific defeat stretching back to round eight last year.

The Force had snatched an unlikely 17-14 halftime lead when Tizzano – the competition’s top try scorer last season – forced his way over after the siren had sounded.

Points Flow Chart

Blues win +10

Time in lead

1

Mins in lead

68

1%

% Of Game In Lead

83%

70%

Possession Last 10 min

30%

5

Points Last 10 min

2

Despite prop Harry Johnson-Holmes barging over for an 11th-minute try and three goals from the flawless boot of flyhalf Ben Donaldson, the Force had trailed after two first-half strikes from goalkicking No.10 Stephen Perofeta and prop Josh Fusitu’a.

Alas, the Blues ran in four tries to two after the interval to follow up a hard-fought 26-23 loss to the Chiefs last week in their season opener.

Pass out to BK gets us over the line 👏#StrongerTogether #SuperRugbyPacific https://url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/t6IKCpYvncQGL49HxHkIGdtka?domain=pic.twitter.com

— Western Force (@westernforce) February 21, 2026
“It’s important. We had a tough one in round one,” Blues fullback Zarn Sullivan told Stan Sport.

“So to come over here to tick off the first one, and then go down to Canberra next week and hopefully get another one.

“You know, it’s not easy to come over to Perth. It’s lovely -the boys can clock off and get lost in paradise.

“So it’s that mentality of being here for a job, get the job done, and let’s get back home.”

Force captain Jeremy Williams felt first-half discipline killed his side.

“We were pretty lucky to be up going into the second half with the amount of penalties we gave away,” he said.

“And just where we were playing our rugby, they had all the ascendancy and the territory.

“So, then, we didn’t really start fast at all coming out of the second half, which has been a struggle for us.

“So plenty to work on, but there was also some good bits as well.”

The Force’s campaign doesn’t get any easier, with a potentially season-defining stretch of away matches in New Zealand against Moana Pasifika, the Highlanders and Hurricanes.