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Waratahs too strong for Force

Cape Town - The Waratahs got their campaign back on track when they registered a deserved 49-13 victory over the Western Force in Perth on Saturday.

The 2014 champions made better use of their opportunities with ball in hand and outscored their hapless hosts six tries to one, with Bernard Foley contributing 19 points via five conversions and three conversions.

The Waratahs controlled the possession and territorial stakes for large periods while the Force lacked cohesion and penetration in attack which played a huge role in their downfall.

The win was the Waratahs' first since Round Five and consolidates third position in the Australian Conference while the Force are still firmly rooted at the bottom of that table.

The opening quarter was a dull affair with both sides feeling each other out although the Force got the opening points via a Peter Grant penalty in the first minute. They were soon reduced to 14 men though when Semisi Masirewa was yellow-carded for taking Andrew Kellaway out in the air.

The visitors were level when Foley slotted the resulting penalty and 10 minutes later Rob Horne crossed for their first try, after Kurtley Beale showed great vision with a superb long pass to the wing when he was tackled inside the Force's 22.

Foley and Grant traded further penalties which meant the Waratahs led 10-6 by the half-hour mark but they went into the sheds holding a 17-6 lead after Nick Phipps barged over from close quarters for their second try just before half-time.

The visitors continued to dominate after the interval, and Foley extended their lead with another penalty in the 43rd minute. The Force struck back with a try on debut, from a line-out drive inside the Waratahs' 22, for debutant Harry Scoble but that was as good as it got for the home side.

The Waratahs put their foot on the gas in the final quarter and outscored their hosts 29-0 during this period.

First Andrew Kellaway did well to shrug off two defenders before offloading to Israel Folau, who got over for an easy five-pointer.

And five minutes later, Reece Robinson extended the visitors' lead when he crossed the whitewash after being put in the clear by a well-timed pass from Phipps, midway between the Force's 22 and the halfway line.

That meant the game was in the bag for the Sydneysiders but they continued to dominate and finished the job with tries from Angus Ta’avao and Jed Holloway inside the final 10 minutes adding the gloss.

Scorers:

Force

Try: Harry Scoble

Conversion: Ben Tapuai

Penalties: Peter Grant (2)

Waratahs

Tries: Rob Horne, Nick Phipps, Israel Folau, Reece Robinson, Angus Taavao-Matau, Jed Holloway

Conversions: Bernard Foley (5)

Penalties: (3)

Teams:

Force

15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Junior Rasolea, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (c), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Heath Tessmann, 1 Francois van Wyk 

Substitutes: 16 Harry Scoble, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Rory Walton, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Kyle Godwin, 23 Albert Nikoro

Waratahs

15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Reece Robinson, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Jed Holloway, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Will Skelton, 4 David Dennis, 3 Tom Robertson, 2 Hugh Roach, 1 Paddy Ryan

Substitutes: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Wycliff Palu, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Matt Carraro

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