Force fall to Highlanders in Super Rugby arm-wrestle

The Western Force person missed the accidental to assertion different Kiwi scalp, falling to the Highlanders successful a 7-6 arm-wrestle successful their Super Rugby Pacific clash successful Dunedin.

Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava was the sole tryscorer, with some teams blameworthy of a swag of handling errors contempt the lucifer being played nether the extortion of Forsyth Barr Stadium connected Saturday.

After a rousing triumph implicit the defending champions Crusaders past round, the Force were looking for successive victories implicit New Zealand sides but came up short.

In a frustrating affair, their lone points came done 2 punishment strikes by five-eighth Ben Donaldson.

Neither squad managed to get connected the scoreboard until Donaldson gave his squad a 3-0 halftime lead, slotting a punishment successful the 37th minute.

The location broadside went up six minutes into the 2nd fractional erstwhile Fakatava recovered a spread successful the Perth side’s goal-line defence.

Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava was the sole tryscorer successful the triumph implicit the Western Force.Credit: AAP

Force winger Chase Tiatai raced guardant retired of the antiaircraft line, momentarily distracting his teammates, with Fakatava seizing the accidental to dive across.

The converted effort gave the Highlanders a 7-3 pb until Donaldon’s 2nd punishment successful the 53rd infinitesimal closed the borderline to 1 point.

Despite plentifulness of clip near connected the clock, the Force made batch of attacking raids but weren’t capable to find a winning effort oregon adjacent a punishment to spell ahead.

Veteran Force halfback Nic White said it felt similar a missed opportunity.

“It was conscionable benignant of last-pass stuff,” helium told Stan Sport.

“We created opportunities but we conscionable weren’t capable to capitalise, conscionable a fewer excessively galore errors.

“We came implicit and competed well, truthful I’m arrogant of the combat successful the guys ... it’s bloody disappointing arsenic I thought we played truly well.

“You’ve got to consciousness similar that’s conscionable different 1 this twelvemonth that we’ve fto slip.”

The triumph meant the Highlanders, kept scoreless past circular by Queensland, leap-frogged Moana Pasifika into eighth spot connected the ladder.

The Force, with 2 wins, stay last.

-AAP

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