Force rue missed opportunities after another Super Rugby defeat / Photo: DAVID GRAY - AFP
Force rue missed opportunities after another Super Rugby defeat
Defiant Western Force captain Jeremy Williams insisted his struggling team had no interest in where they were on the Super Rugby ladder after another defeat left them floundering second to last.
The Perth-based side fluffed a host of late opportunities against Fijian Drua in Lautoka on Saturday and crashed to a gut-wrenching 24-22 loss.
It left them in 10th, above only Moana Pasifika, and nine points outside the top six as their hopes of making the playoffs drift away.
They face the sixth-placed Canterbury Crusaders next weekend in round 10 of the 16-round regular season.
"I don't need to keep them focused," Wallabies lock Williams said of lifting the players for their next game.
"They're already focused themselves. Everyone is laser-focused on what we need to do to win each game.
"In terms of the table, it's not something we think about.
"We review our opposition that we've got in the coming week. We focus on how to get the best outcome that week. We don't look too far ahead."
The visitors rallied after trailing 19-7 at the interval, scoring three second-half tries.
But they struggled with their kicking, making one of five attempts off the tee, while spurning a late lineout near the Drua line after the siren.
"The hardest part reviewing will be the opportunities we created and didn't take," Force coach Simon Cron told reporters.
"There was a lot of fight in the team to get themselves back in the game. We had the opportunity to win it and we didn't execute."
Victory lifted Drua to ninth on the table, two points behind NSW Waratahs who have a game in hand.
The Fijians travel to Canberra next week to face the ACT Brumbies.
姜-A.Jiāng--THT-士蔑報
