MATCH CENTRE<\/a><\/p>\n79′: Tizzano the man <\/p>\n
Force 31-26: Carlo Tizzano comes up with the winner as he nabs the turnover penalty with seconds left.<\/p>\n
It was 20 phases of attack from the Crusaders, with the flanker picking his moment to strike and get the penalty that wins it.<\/p>\n
77′: Crusaders on the march<\/p>\n
Force 31-26: The Crusaders are starting to make ground as they enter the Force’s half.<\/p>\n
The Force are hunting for the turnover and just can’t get the pill.<\/p>\n
75′: Springer denied crucial try<\/p>\n
Force 31-26: A massive relieving moment for the Force as Macca Springer’s try is struck off.<\/p>\n
It comes after Sevu Reece knocks on a bomb two phases earlier, with the TMO confirming the error and the Force are still in front.<\/p>\n
73′: Box kick battle<\/p>\n
Force 31-26: The teams are stuck in a battle of territory as the stress level raise in this game.<\/p>\n
Hamish Stewart sprints away but there was a knock on advantage for the Crusaders, who get the scrum near halfway.<\/p>\n
70′: HJH in his 100th!<\/p>\n
Force 31-26: Harry Johnson-Holmes comes up back in his 100th, getting the try that puts the Force in front.<\/p>\n
The Force keep barging down the Crusaders defence and it’s the prop who salutes close to the line.<\/p>\n
67′: Force pressing for lead<\/p>\n
Crusaders 26-24: The Force are grinding down the Crusaders and Ben Donaldson breaks the game opener.<\/p>\n
The hosts get the penalty advantage and keep pressing despite the points being on offer, going for the line.<\/p>\n
63′: Pietsch strikes back<\/p>\n
Crusaders 26-24: Dylan Pietsch sneaks down the short side and dives over for the try.<\/p>\n
He just has control of the ball, and the TMO rules it similar to Johnny McNicholl’s try.<\/p>\n
61′: Crusaders down to 14<\/p>\n
Crusaders 26-19: Tahlor Cahill goes to the bin in a big moment in this match.<\/p>\n
Referee Reuben Keane hasn’t forgotten about his warning from earlier, with the big lock paying the price.<\/p>\n
57′: Hotham restores Crusaders lead<\/p>\n
Crusaders 26-19: The Crusaders hit straight back as Noah Hotham dives over for the try.<\/p>\n
Macca Springer sprints down the wing and finds his scrumhalf, putting the ball down.<\/p>\n
54′: Lomax bags first Union try<\/p>\n
19-all: Zac Lomax, welcome to Rugby Union.<\/p>\n
The winger dives over to level the scores after Ben Donaldson’s looping ball has been unmarked in the corner, and boy is he happy.<\/p>\n
52′: Crusaders under warning<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-14: A string of penalties against the Crusaders and it leads to a warning from referee Reuben Keane.<\/p>\n
The Force are keeping the pressure on, kicking to the line again from five metres out.<\/p>\n
48′: Force with the momentum<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-14: Suddenly, it’s all the hosts as the Crusaders scramble and force an error inside their 22.<\/p>\n
Rob Penney has responded by bringing on Noah Hotham as everything is going the Force’s way.<\/p>\n
45′: Robertson gets his second<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-14: Great work from the Force and Henry Robertson has his second.<\/p>\n
The Force power to the five metre line through their maul and baits the defence with the show-and-go for the try.<\/p>\n
42′: Force pick up where they left off<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-7: The Force re-apply the pressure after Zac Lomax is taken out trying to go for a high ball.<\/p>\n
Lomax looks through a hole but they don’t throw the pass and are turned over 15 metres out.<\/p>\n
HALF TIME: CRUSADERS 19 – 7 FORCE<\/p>\n
39′: Force launching late attack<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-7: The Force have some late momentum and are hunting for further points.<\/p>\n
Ben Donaldson kicks for the line, finding touch 20 metres out, with Carlo Tizzano held up after Zac Lomax does well to win a cross-field kick.<\/p>\n
35′: Brilliant team try for Force<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-7: A beauty of a team try for the Force as Henry Robertson finishes it off.<\/p>\n
It starts with a great cutout from Ben Donaldson to Dylan Pietsch, who finds his win partner.<\/p>\n
Lomax draws and passes for Mac Grealy, who proceeds to put his scrumhalf over.<\/p>\n
31′: Nothing going right for Force<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-0: The Force are getting nothing going as they search for their first points.<\/p>\n
They finally get field position but lose the lineout after kicking inside the 22.<\/p>\n
26′: Force holding on<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-0: The Force are on the ropes trying to survive as the Crusaders keep making big yards with Nick Champion de Crespigny still in the bin.<\/p>\n
A desperate intercept from Darcy Swain saves them, with the Wallabies skipper finally returning to the park.<\/p>\n
21′: Macca and McNicholl combine for an amazing try<\/p>\n
Crusaders 19-0: A ripper of a try and Johnny McNicholl superman dives his way to the line.<\/p>\n
It starts with a Macca Springer break down the short side, kicking ahead for his fullback.<\/p>\n
The fullback wins the foot race and slams the ball down within an inch of the in-goal line.<\/p>\n
18′: Fainga’anku too big, too strong<\/p>\n
Crusaders 14-0: Leicester Fainga’anuku proves way too strong close to the line and is over for a try.<\/p>\n
He gets himself one-on-one with Henry Robertson and carries the scrumhalf over the line.<\/p>\n
16′: Champion de Crespigny off for ten<\/p>\n
Crusaders 7-0: Referee Reuben Keane has had enough and sends Nick Champion de Crespigny to the bin.<\/p>\n
It comes after the repeated infringements, with a nice kick putting the Crusaders on the five metre line as the Force hold them up again, third time already this game!<\/p>\n
13: Force hold Crusaders up<\/p>\n
Crusaders 7-0: The Force keep the Crusaders out for now as they held up Dom Gardiner<\/p>\n
They had penalty advantage, with Reuben Keane now giving the hosts the warning that the next goes to the bin.<\/p>\n
The Force replicate their efforts on Leicester Fainga’anuku shortly afterwards for the drop out.<\/p>\n
10′: Crusaders on the march<\/p>\n
Crusaders 7-0: The Crusaders are in full control as they hunt for their second try.<\/p>\n
They are camped inside the Force’s half, winning another penalty advantage as they kick to the five-metre line, with the hosts stopping the lineout illegally.<\/p>\n
A slight delay as assistant referee Nic Berry goes off to fix his comms.<\/p>\n
5′: Bell on the ball<\/p>\n
Crusaders 7-0: Outstanding counter-attack from the Crusaders allows hooker George Bell to score the opener.<\/p>\n
It’s all Taha Kemara, who chips and chases for himself as he’s dragged down 15 metres out, with Sevu Reece finding George Bell after the pop pass for the try.<\/p>\n
2′: Force on the defence early<\/p>\n
A nice kick and chase from Macca Springer earns the Crusaders a goal-line drop-out.<\/p>\n
A little too casual from Henry Robertson, who quickly has to put it down after Springer sprints after it.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Williams comes up with the unlikely intercept to halt the attack as it looms towards their 22.<\/p>\n
KICK OFF<\/p>\n
The Crusaders get this game underway as the Force receive the kick off.<\/p>\n
It’s ‘Party in the Park’ at HBF Park tonight, with added music and entertainment around the ground.<\/p>\n
FORCE 31<\/p>\n
Tries: H.Robertson 2, Lomax, Pietsch, Johnson-Holmes<\/p>\n
Cons: Donaldson 3\/5<\/p>\n
Pens:<\/p>\n
CRUSADERS 26<\/p>\n
Tries: Bell, Fainga’anuku, McNicholl, Hotham<\/p>\n
Cons: Kemara 2\/3, Reihana 1\/1<\/p>\n
Pens:<\/p>\n
PRE GAME: Wild Saturday continues<\/p>\n
Welcome to Rugby.com.au’s coverage of the Western Force – Crusaders match as we soak in a wild Saturday of action.<\/p>\n
It’s been a cracker so far, from Super Point thrillers to massive upsets, it’s been one of the wilder rounds so far.<\/p>\n
The Force will be out to continue this, with the return of Carlo Tizzano, among others, massive for their hopes.<\/p>\n
A late change for the Crusaders, with Chay Fihaki out, replaced by Sevu Reece in the starting side, with Toby Bell coming onto the bench.<\/p>\n
WESTERN FORCE v CRUSADERS TEAMS<\/p>\n
FORCE (1-15):\u00a0Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Misinale Epenisa, Jeremy Williams (c), Darcy Swain, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Carlo Tizzano, Vaiolini Ekuasi, Henry Robertson, Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch, Bayley Kuenzle, George Bridge, Zac Lomax, Mac Grealy<\/p>\n
Replacements:\u00a0Nic Dolly, Sef Fa\u2019agase, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Franco Molina, Will Harris, Nathan Hastie, Hamish Stewart, Kurtley Beale<\/p>\n
CRUSADERS (1-15):\u00a0Finlay Brewis, George Bell, Seb Calder, Tahlor Cahill, Jamie Hannah, Dom Gardiner, Johnny Lee, Christian Lio-Willie (c), Louis Chapman, Taha Kemara, Macca Springer, Dallas McLeod, Leciester Fainga’anuku, Sevu Reece, Johnny McNicholl<\/p>\n
Replacements:\u00a0Manumaua Leitu, George Bower, Kershawl Sykes-Martin, Ollie Mathis Corey Kellow, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana, Toby Bell<\/p>\n
Referee:\u00a0Reuben Keane<\/p>\n
Assistant Referees:\u00a0Nic Berry, Louis Trisley<\/p>\n
TMO:\u00a0Brett Cronan<\/p>\n
HOW TO WATCH WESTERN FORCE v CRUSADERS <\/p>\n
The Force’s clash with the Crusaders will be shown LIVE on Stan Sport.<\/p>\n
Coverage will be live and ad-free on Stan Sport, slated to start at 9:50 pm AEST, with kick-off to shortly follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RECAP: The Western Force have rallied to take down the Crusaders 31-26 in Perth. The Force did it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,29897,760,85,48013,11229],"class_list":{"0":"post-615240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-crusaders","11":"tag-rugby","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-super-rugby-pacific","14":"tag-western-force"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}