Spirit beaten again
Perth Spirit lost their third consecutive National Rugby Championship match last night, overpowered 44-24 by Melbourne Rising at AAMI Park.
It was not unexpected. The Rising were so top heavy with Super Rugby players and a couple of Wallabies they nearly sunk under the weight of appearances and expectation.
The Spirit, made up mainly of amateur, young Perth club players, were looking to bounce back after defeat by Greater Sydney while the Rising were on a high after their 79-18 flogging of Brisbane City.
But they were outgunned by the vastly more experienced and undefeated Melbourne side who had swept all before them in the first three rounds.
The Spirit were not overawed by the big names in the early contests and dominated possession and territory on the back of some neat kicks from fly-half Zack Holmes and barging runs from South African pair Brynard Stander and Chris Heiberg.
But as the game progressed the Rising brought the advantage of their size and weight to bear across the field and wore down the visitors.
Coach Dave Wessels, the Western Force defence expert, would have been disappointed with the number of missed tackles - 25 in the first half alone - as the Spirit models its defence on the staunch structures and alignment that served the Force so well in the Super Rugby season.
They were hurt by the penalty count, were again reduced to 14 players in the second half and produced too many costly errors at the breakdown and around the ball possession.
Wessels said he was proud of the effort, particularly from the club players, but ultimately the Rising experience proved too much.
"We are obviously disappointed but immensely proud of the effort the guys put in against a lot of established Super Rugby players," Wessels said.
"There were times, particularly in multi-phase, when they found a bit of space on us.
"There are a number of players in our side who are young and still learning. If anything the reflection of the result was inexperience in terms of some of our tactical decision making but we are going to learn from that.
"The breakdown was an interesting one. There were a number of times when I felt we got on the ball quite well and we didn't get the decision but we have to adapt to he referee."
The Spirit took an early lead with an Alex Rovira try, converted by Luke Burton, but were unable to build on the start as the Rising used their big runners with more purpose, found gaps in the visitors defence and ran in three tries in six minutes midway through the first period.
After the break the Spirit scrapped and spoiled and saw a glimpse of hope with a second try from Brad Lacey, converted by Burton, but they relinquished their line four more times before Holmes crossed for a converted try on the final whistle.