Force show Graham enough to work on
The Western Force went down 38-22 in their second pre-season hit-out against the Waratahs last night.
And while there are deficiencies that still need work coach Richard Graham was happy with aspects of their game.
"I'm really pleased with a number of things that came out of the game," he said. "The shape of the game showed we are going to ask questions of sides.
"This (Waratahs) was a side that has spoken a lot about their physical preparation during pre-season. I thought we matched that.
"The true test of Super rugby is how you cope under pressure. We lost our shape, we found it, we lost it again we found it. We went away from our catch-pass decision making. We had numerous opportunities to score tries, but we didn't capitalise on it.
"We got a little bit loose towards the end of the second half. We started to become forwards and backs as opposed to a team.
"That's going to have to be a bit of a focus for us."
Through choice and because of injury, the Force started with a few rookies, Jono Jenkins in the pack and Phoenix Battye and newcomer Rory Sidey.
The Waratahs paraded a strong side with a beefed-up pack that included damaging No.8 Wycliff Palu, who is returning from a knee reconstruction.
When Graham injected Mitch Inman, David Smith and Brett Sheehan they brought a more enterprising and direct attack to the game. With 20 minutes left he rolled out the rest of his squad.
The Force scored four tries through Nick Cummins, Cameron Shepherd, Battye and guest player Kieran Stringer from Cottesloe.
Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Carter, Palu, Drew Mitchell (two) and Greg Peterson scored five pointers for the Waratahs with Daniel Halangahu converting four.
In the earlier game, the Australian Barbarians, a scratch side thrown together before the game with nine Force players, went down 26-5 to the Junior Waratahs.
It saw a return for Mark Bartholomeusz who has recovered from an ankle injury that was expected to have kept him out until the start of the Super season.
·A converted try after the siren has ensured the Hurricanes escaped with a 21-all draw against the Brumbies in their final pre-season trial last night.
After sustained pressure on the Brumbies line for the final five minutes, Hurricanes winger Julian Savea crossed for the try with fly-half Aaron Cruden converting to draw the sides level at Viking Park, Canberra.
But a draw for the Brumbies was a big improvement following a 38-5 drubbing to the Queensland Reds in Darwin six days earlier.
Wallaby veteran Matt Giteau led the Brumbies for the first time, directing the back line for the 46 minutes he was on the field.
