Brisbane City have opened their 2018 NRC campaign with a loss, falling 47-29 to a potent Western Force side in a high-scoring affair at Norths Rugby Club in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
The West Australians made the most of two yellow-cards to the Brisbane side, notching seven tries in Round 1 of the 2018 National Rugby Championship.
City head coach Mick Heenan said: “We made too many mistakes in our area and once we did that they were very effective at scoring points. “That being said, we showed enough in attack to know we’ve got something to build on, we scored five tries. We’ll build from this and get better.”
The Force added the first points of the match, a Jack McGregor cut-out pass putting winger Rod Davies over the try line in the left-hand corner.
However City would not stay behind for long, Con Foley crossing for five points just minutes later after sustained pressure in the Force’s half.
A Quade Cooper conversion from close to the sideline gave the side a 7-5 advantage after eight minutes of play.The Force soon regained their lead, a rolling maul delivering the West Australians their second try in the left-hand corner, Jeremy Thrush crossing the line to score.
Scrumhalf Ian Prior converted to send the game to 12-7.
Brisbane once again answered back quickly with a try of their own, GPS flyer Jaye Thompson slicing through the Force defensive line on the back of a slick City backline sequence.
Cooper missed the conversion to make the game 12-12 after 15 minutes.
City became the first side to score back-to-back tries in the game 10 minutes later, University lock Pat Morrey charging over the stripe to give his side a 17-12 lead with 10 minutes of the first half to play.
The Force hit back shortly after, with fullback McGregor scoring his side’s third try close to the left corner post.
Prior again converted to give his side a 19-17 advantage.
City were then reduced to just 14 men with Souths winger Emori Waqavulagi yellow-carded for batting the ball down after an attempted intercept in the latter stages of the half.
The advantage proved crucial for the Force as bullocking prop Cameron Orr crashed over close to the sideline soon after, his side’s newfound overlap proving too much for the City defence.
Prior’s conversion gave his side a 26-17 lead at the half-time break.
A rare Thompson fumble provided the Force with more opportunity close to the City line, and with Waqavulagi still warming the pine, the West Australian’s one-man advantage once again proved decisive, with Davies crossing for his second try.
Prior converted to put his side’s lead out to 16 at 33-17City once again replied with their own try soon after, St George Queensland Reds scrumhalf Moses Sorovi dishing a short ball to Cooper who barged his way through the defence to score.
Cooper converted his own try to put City back into the game at 33-24.
The sides continued to trade tries, with the Force the next to score after a rolling maul put interchange forward Alifeleti Kaitu'u over the line.
Prior converted to once again give his side a 16-point lead.
City found their way across the try line again in the 62nd minute, with Cooper providing Jayden Ngamanu an inside ball for the side’s fifth try. Cooper converted to bring City within 11 points with less than 20 minutes on the clock.
City’s second yellow-card soon followed, replacement hooker Moli Sooaemalelagi sent from the field in the 67th minute.
The Force once again quickly capitalised on their advantage, another rolling maul providing Kaitu'u with his second try and the West Australians with a 47-29 lead to finish the game.
City will look to bounce back from the loss next week when they travel to Fiji to take on the Fiji Drua, who opened their season with a 40-17 win over the Melbourne Rising.
McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City 29 (Jayden Ngamanu, Quade Cooper, Pat Morrey, Jaye Thompson, Con Foley tries; Cooper 2 conversions)
defeated by Western Force 47 (Feleti Kaitu'u 2, Rod Davies 2, Cameron Orr, Jack McGregor, Jeremy Thrush tries; Ian Prior 6 conversions) at Norths Rugby Club on Sunday 2 September, 2018.
