Western Force coach Simon Cron has called on his players to remain grounded as they push for a maiden Super Rugby Pacific finals appearance. Following a gritty 19-14 victory over the Queensland Reds at HBF Park on Saturday night, the Force have now won four of their last six matches, fueled by a resolute defensive effort.
Finals hopes alive
The Force currently sit just outside the top six, but with two games remaining, starting with a home clash against the Fijian Drua next Saturday, they still have a path to the postseason. To secure a historic finals berth, the Force must win both remaining matches and hope either the Reds or the Brumbies stumble against lower-ranked opponents.
Despite the significance of the win, Cron emphasized the need for humility and continuous improvement. "Feet on the ground is a minimum requirement for us," he said. "There is a lot of positives we can take, but then we have got to layer win on win. We have got to layer good on good in games, and the times we got in trouble was when we did not do that."
Dominant but wasteful
The Force enjoyed 62 per cent territory and 57 per cent possession against the Reds, and their line-out proved highly effective, disrupting the visitors who won only eight of their 14 throws. However, Cron lamented his side's inability to convert pressure into points, particularly inside the opposition's 22-metre zone.
"We made a few line breaks and our speed to support those line breaks was a bit slow, our first 10 metres of sprint from supporting players was a bit slow, and then when we made those line breaks, just a little bit of ball security was needed around our crunch and punch on the ground to look after it," Cron explained. "A couple times we got inside the 22 and we turned the ball over a little bit easy on really simple skill execution errors, which we can be better at, because it is a great pressure zone to be in."
Defensive excellence
The Force lead the league with a tackle success rate of 88.5 per cent. Against the Reds, they made 135 tackles at 89 per cent efficiency, their lowest mark in the past four games, having been above 91 per cent in the previous three weeks. Cron and captain Jeremy Williams both praised defence coach Brad Harris for his work.
"It is critical for us and the key thing for me is, you ask people like Jez and the boys, how confident are you? They are really confident, and Brad is doing a great job on clarity and accuracy," Cron said. "He is also hard edged, which I like, and he holds them to account, and the boys are doing the same thing. Even Carlo at the end of the game, is talking about defense, so you know it is key."
Williams echoed those sentiments: "We have been developing really well in that area, but we have still got work to do, like a few line breaks through the middle, and that is our job as middles to make sure that does not happen. We need to be better there, and make sure that they cannot get easy metered gains, but it has been a really good growth of ours, and Brad has been awesome. His system and attention to detail, and his accountability has been great for the group."
With two crucial matches ahead, the Force will need to maintain their defensive standards while sharpening their attacking execution to keep their finals dream alive.
