Scrumhalf Alby Mathewson clears the ball as the Force look to set up another attack

Rugby WA Media Release –

The Western Force has secured its third victory in as many matches following an emphatic 18-15 win over reigning champions, the Chiefs, at the ‘Force Field’ (nib Stadium) tonight.

In front of a heaving 16,380-strong Sea of Blue, tonight marked the first time the Force has recorded three consecutive victories since 2007, with Matt Hodgson leading the way with the first two-try performance of his career in a Haigh & Hastings Man of the Match display.

Despite opposing one of the best attacking units in Asteron Life Super Rugby, the Force became the first team since the Brumbies of 2001 to hold the Chiefs try-less in a match in Australia, with Aaron Cruden and Gareth Anscombe posting the five penalty goals between them.

Head Coach Michael Foley said he was pleased with the commitment and composure displayed by his team tonight.

“I am absolutely thrilled for the blokes. I say that every time they come off a result like that – but the character shown in front of a champion side tonight was outstanding,” he said.

Wilhelm Steenkamp leads the celebrations
at the final whistle

“We started with a lot of enthusiasm; a couple of things did not go quite right for us, we weren’t quite accurate with a few things but I think from the first couple of minutes you could see the amount of heart the boys put into that performance. 

“Last year we had a lot of good performances but probably couldn’t quite close things out. Maybe some of those difficult moments – like that last 20 minutes [tonight] – last year we didn’t believe enough.

“[However] the guys have put in that much more hard work to get to those points in a game to really believe they can finish over the top of opposition.

“We’ve only had three wins but if you bottle some of the great stuff out of the last three weeks, we could go on to have a good season – but we haven’t had that good season yet.”

Having scored the opening try in their past two matches, the Force continued that trend in the 13th minute when Hodgson latched onto the back of a rolling maul to cross in the right hand corner.

Flyhalves Sias Ebersohn and Cruden traded penalty goals in the 26th and 32nd minute respectively, before the All Black playmaker added two further first half penalties to give his side a 9-8 lead at the break.

A long-range Gareth Anscombe penalty four minutes into the new term extended the lead to four points but was quickly negated when Hodgson finished a string of pick-and-drives close to the Chiefs line, when he crashed over for his second.

The Force almost added another immediately after when Nick Cummins dived over in the corner, only for the TMO to confirm that the winger had put his foot in touch prior to grounding the ball.

An Ebersohn penalty in the 58th minute provided his side with a six-point buffer with Cruden reinstating the three-point margin with 18 minutes remaining.

While the Chiefs continued to ask questions of the Force defence throughout the final quarter of the match, the Western Australians had the answers on each occasion, hanging on for a memorable three-point victory.

The Force will now have the week off courtesy of the bye, before heading to Brisbane to face the Queensland Reds on Saturday, 5 April.

Western Force 18 (Matt Hodgson 2 tries; Sias Ebersohn con, 2 pens) defeated Chiefs 15(Aaron Cruden 4 pens, Gareth Anscombe pen)