Hurricanes VS Western Force: As most would have expected, the Hurricanes blew away an injury ravaged Western Force outfit in Wellington on Saturday. A game which saw the Hurricanes score 7 tries against the Force’s 3 try tally.
The Hurricanes showed a good variety when attacking. Utilising both the forwards and the backs well on attack, they were just too strong for the Force to hold out for a full eighty minutes. The Hurricanes, although good on the day, may not ave been as consistent as they would have liked. Let us not forget though that the Western Force outfit that they faced has been heavily struck with injuries in the opening round of the 2010 Super 14 competition.
Injuries to Western Force players include the likes of:
- André Pretorius – hamstring (entire season)
- Cameron Shepherd – thigh (six weeks)
- Richard Brown – shoulder (six weeks)
- David Pocock – finger (six weeks)
- Mark Bartholomeusz – neck (two weeks)
- Nick Cummins – foot (four weeks)
- Ryan Cross – shoulder (one week)
My two cents worth:
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Stats wise, both teams were quite even in regards with possession, territory, phases and time in opposition 22 etc.
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Both teams enjoyed a fair amount of time in each others 22m area, with the Force camping in the Hurricanes’ 22m area for close to 6 minutes in total. Unfortunately for them, the Hurricanes capitalised on their time in the opposition’s 22, whilst the Force didn’t.
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Ma’a Nonu once again showed that he is the weakest link defensively, missing 4 tackles in the midfield.
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Andrew Hore once again had a high work rate with 17 tackles.
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Tamati Ellison was brilliant with his punch-through grubber kicks
Hurricanes VS Western Force 2010 Highlights: [WRNrugbynews]
Scorecard:
When will the Stormers highlights be on here? Can you guys make sure the Andries Becker tackle is on there pleeeease? thanx
[...] As most of you may know by now, the Western Force are facing a major injury crisis at the moment. If you haven’t heard about the happenings at the Perth based franchise, have a look here. [...]