Force 12
The Western Force fought bravely but couldn't overcome an early red card on the way to a 39-12 loss to the unbeaten Sharks at nib Stadium in Perth on Saturday night.
Force substitute Rory Sidey was given his marching orders by referee Keith Brown in the 18th minute for a dangerous lifting tackle on Sharks winger Odwa Ndungane, who lay on the turf in clear distress for several minutes after the incident before being stretchered off.
The Sharks led 7-3 at the time and took full advantage of having the extra man, unleashing a frenetic running game to brush aside a determined Force unit and register the five-try, bonus-point win.
MATCH STATS
SUPER 15 STANDINGS
The Force ended the match with just 13 men after winger Nick Cummins was sin-binned in the 77th minute for what appeared to be a hard but fair tackle on fullback Louis Lidik.
Although the final score heavily favoured the Sharks, the Force trailed by just 10 points with 10 minutes remaining and came close to scoring a try under the posts that would have closed the gap to three points.
The defeat could prove a costly one for the Force, who lost Wallabies flanker David Pocock to what appeared to be a knee injury and centre Mitch Inman to a dislocated elbow.
The Sharks also didn't escape unscathed, with JP Pietersen (knee) following fellow winger Ndungane on the casualty list.
Wallabies winger James O'Connor scored all 12 of the Force's points via four penalties.
The Force couldn't take a trick in the opening 20 minutes, with Inman and Pocock forced off through injury and Sidey shown a red following his dangerous tackle.
O'Connor opened the scoring with a penalty in the eighth minute but just two minutes later the Sharks were ahead, with Ndungane capitalising on a simple dropped pass from Sidey to soccer the ball forward and touch down for the first try of the night.
Sidey's nightmare continued in the 18th minute, given his marching orders for his lifting tackle on Ndungane.
Sharks hooker Bismarck du Plessis added to the Force's woes with a try just a minute later, and although O'Connor pegged back two penalties, the Sharks went into half-time full of momentum following a 35th minute try to Steven Sykes.
Substitute winger Lwazi Mvovo thought he had scored the Sharks' bonus-point fourth try three minutes after half-time when he leapt high to pluck a O'Connor kick from the air and sprinted 75m to the line.
But the try was disallowed due to an earlier off-side infringement, with O'Connor closing the margin to 10 points.
However the Force ran out of puff from there, with Willem Alberts and five-eighth Patrick Lambie scoring late tries to blow the game apart.
- AAP
