View photosKEY POINTS:
If Brendon Leonard hadn't popped up with three tries it was shaping as a bad day for halfbacks.
First Chris O'Young took a blow to the head from Sitiveni Sivivatu that left him unconscious on Hamilton's finest patch of turf, then his opposite Byron Kelleher had his nose spread across his face when trying to prevent Force first-five Matt Giteau from scoring.
Not that Kelleher was receiving much sympathy from coach and captain post-match.
Jono Gibbes could barely contain himself when Foster said: "I think a little bit's on this ear and a little bit's on this ear," trying to explain the severity of the nose injury.
"But knowing Byron, he'll still look very handsome at the end of the day," Foster said, with his skipper by now in grave danger of toppling from his chair.
Asked if the injury would require further work, Foster said: "I don't know. But it's certainly bent."
O'Young provided some humour, although his condition was potentially serious judging by the way Tasesa Lavea urgently signalled to the medics when he went down in Sivivatu's tackle.
He was led in a dazed state from the field where he was being monitored on the bench. Then, without warning, he evidently tried to take his place on the field wobbling to the side of the ground before being guided back into the hutch.
Step forward Brendon Leonard to add some dignity to the No 9 jersey (although he was wearing No 20).
Leonard scored three tries, two of them from perfectly worked scrum moves.
"The scrum was working well so there was some great space for me on the outside," Leonard said. "We exploited that quite well and for some reason, today was my day."
Leonard was being whispered about as a possible end-of-year tourist with the All Blacks last year before Andy Ellis got the nod. He would have done himself no harm for future selection, though with Jimmy Cowan returning to top form there is a long queue in that position now.
"It was his sort of day, wasn't it? It was hard and fast," Foster said. "We've been challenging the guys who aren't starting to add value when they come on."
