Western Force stand-in captain Sam Carter says his side had good moments in Friday’s Anzac Weekend Round loss to the Chiefs but not enough across the 80 minutes.
The Force were beaten 56-22 by the SMARTECH Super Rugby Pacific ladder leaders, who pulled away in the second half with five tries to one after the interval in Tauranga.
The game had seesawed in the opening 40, with five lead changes. The Force got ahead from industrious tries from Bayley Kuenzle and Harry Potter, but couldn’t maintain it.
PURCHASE TICKETS TO FORCE'S 20TH-SEASON ANNIVERSARY GAME vs THE BRUMBIES
Instead, the Chiefs flexed their muscle in the second half, with their forwards paving the way for their backs to look dangerous whenever play spread wide.
Carter, who led the Force starting side following Jeremy Williams’ late withdrawal, said there were good moments but not enough against the table toppers.
"I think we had good moments there, particularly in the first half, a couple in the second half,” Carter told Sky post-game.
“The 50-50s and the spark from the Chiefs, they’re very dangerous when they get loose ball. They’re hard to defend.”
The contest was tight at 18-15 before Kaylen Boshier’s try late in the first half, benefitting from referee James Doleman over-ruling the TMO’s original call, after the Force had rebounded and gone within 10m of scoring down the other end.
The Chiefs claimed all control after that, running away with the game, with the Force missing the experience and leadership of Williams and vice-captain Nic White (head injury protocols), albeit an impressive maiden start from young scrum-half Henry Robertson.
The opening 40 minutes, however, offered the Force optimism that they can match it with the best sides
Carter added: “We spoke about that. We wanted to come over here and hunt together. We saw that.
“We saw some really good moments. We saw some brilliance in attack and some good defence.
“But when you come up against a good team like the Chiefs, you’ve got to do it for 80 minutes.”
The travelling Force squad will remain in Tauranga, before traveling on Thursday to Auckland for their important Round 12 game with the Blues, who went down 35-21 to the Reds on Friday night.
Both the Force and the Blues are amid the logjam for the top-six finals spots. Carter acknowledged the importance of the upcoming game.
“You’ve seen it right across Super Rugby this year, every game is crucial,” the16-cap Wallabies lock said.
“There’s a lot of good teams out there this year. We’ll take some learnings out of that.
“We’ve got to be better for next week when we take on the Blues.”
The Force take on the Blues from 3:05pm WST on Friday at Eden Park.
In Round 13, the Force return home to face the ACT Brumbies on Saturday 10 May from 5:35pm WST.
The Force-Brumbies encounter will mark a special Club 20th-season anniversary game, with past players to be present for the contest.
Among the past players will be those from the Round 1 2006 game against the Force’s first-ever opposition, the Brumbies.
Tickets are on sale for the 20th-season anniversary game via Ticketmaster. Get tickets here.
