Interim Western Force coach Phil Blake was left bewildered and frustrated by a host of questionable refereeing decisions in his team’s 17-13 Super Rugby loss to the Cheetahs in South Africa on Sunday morning.
The Force couldn’t take a trick from referee Stuart Berry, with the 18-7 penalty count even infuriating the normally ice-cool David Pocock.
The Cheetahs trailed 13-9 following Winston Stanley’s 46th-minute try, but the home side made the most of the favourable rub of the green with Berry to post their fourth win of the year.
Blake praised the way his players dealt with their frustrations in a match dominated by the whistle.
“At the end of the day you would like the players to decide the result,” Blake said.
“Some of (the decisions) were bewildering to say the least.
“I think David (Pocock) did as well as anyone in those circumstances.
“It’s hard, it’s frustrating. You can’t do any more than compete.
“You’d like to think on more occasions than not the players will decide the result.”
The Force were controversially denied a try to winger Samu Wara on the stroke of half-time after the assistant referee deemed prop Salesi Ma’afu had illegally affected play in the lead-up.
Ma’afu wrapped his arm around the neck of his opponent at the breakdown, but in reality the incident had little effect on Wara’s ability to break through the Cheetahs’ defence just moments later.
The Force’s fourth defeat on the trot left them last in the Australian conference with just two wins from 10 outings, but Blake was confident his team’s fortunes would soon turn around.
“One thing that can never be questioned is the character of this squad,” Blake said.
“To hang in there under those circumstances, away from home, with a lopsided penalty count and no ball to play with, to still be in the game with two minutes to go shows a lot of character and tells you they’re not far away from a win.”
Cheetahs five-eighth Sias Ebersohn, whose wayward boot cost him team victory against the Highlanders last week, nailed two first-half penalties and scrumhalf Tewis de Bruyn added another to give the home side a 9-6 edge at the break.
Good attacking opportunities were few and far between for the Force, but they were celebrating shortly after half-time when Stanley charged down Willie le Roux’s kick and scrambled over for the opening try of the match.
Harvey’s conversion made it 13-9 in the 46th minute, but a try to Cheetahs hooker Adriaan Strauss and a long-range penalty to Ebersohn secured the win for the home side.