Wallaby hoping to see a 'few disappointed boys in the Tahs' changing room'

Wooden spoon talk has been off the agenda at the Western Force as they aim to end the NSW Waratahs’ Super Rugby Pacific finals hopes once and for all.

The Force’s 38-7 loss to the Fijian Drua last week consigned the Perth-based club to yet another year without finals action, and in danger of finishing last.

It means they are still yet to make the finals in a full Super Rugby competition since their inception 20 years ago.

The Force (22 points) sit ninth on the ladder, equal with the Waratahs (22) and just ahead of the Drua (20 points) and Highlanders (19 points) in what has become a four-way battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

But unlike the Force, who only have one match remaining, the Waratahs have two games to go – giving them a shot at an unlikely finals berth.

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NSW need to beat both the Force and the Blues, as well as relying on other results to fall their way, in order to sneak into the top six.

The Force are keen to play party poopers when they lock horns with the Waratahs at HBF Park on Saturday night.

“Yeah definitely,” Force flyhalf Ben Donaldson replied when asked if he was keen to end the Waratahs’ finals hopes.

“It’s been a reasonably tough year for us, so we really want to come out and, first and foremost, win and play a great game in front of our fans (the) Sea of Blue, and just have a smile on our face.

“And in turn, hopefully see a few disappointed boys in the Tahs’ changing room as well.”

The Waratahs won four of their first five matches in their best start to a season since 2009.

But the wheels have fallen off dramatically since then, with four losses on the trot consigning them to what appears set to be another wasted season.

The Force also made a promising start, with an early win over the Brumbies in Canberra helping fuel belief they could finally break their finals duck.

But four losses and a draw from their past five games means all they can do now is try to avoid finishing last.

“Honestly we haven’t spoken about it once,” Donaldson said of the wooden spoon.

“We know where we sit on the ladder, but we haven’t spoken about the ladder this week.

“It’s just about finishing on a high, putting in a performance that we can be proud of, and what the Sea of Blue can be proud of as well.”

Star flanker Carlo Tizzano returns from a pectoral injury this week, and will be aiming to add to his competition-high 12 tries.

“To be honest, they’re all team tries, most of them are strictly one metre out,” Tizzano said with a laugh.

“So yeah, smarter, not harder – shout out to the forwards.”