Match Centre: Waratahs 16-20 Force

Waratahs 16-20 Force, Bankwest Stadium
Scorecard

Western Force managed their first ever win in Super Rugby AU as they edged out New South Wales Waratahs 20-16 at Bankwest Stadium on Friday.

The win has taken Waratahs to third place in the table with four points while Waratahs have lost their third game in a row.

Waratahs had dominated the opening exchange with Will Harrison kicking a penalty to touchline and from the resulting maul hooker Dave Porecki touched down in the fifth minute. Harrison kicked the conversion to take them to a 7-0 lead.

Harrison then followed with two more penalties in the 14th and 24th minutes to extend the home side's lead to 13 points before Force finally responded through Fergus Lee-Warner after he capitalised on an offload from Tim Antsee. Jake McIntyre followed with a conversion and a penalty as the teams finished the opening half with a 13-10 scoreline.

Force were the quickest to get off the block in the second half as Anstee at the back of the line out dived over the line in the 54th minute and McIntyre improved it to take them to lead for the first time in the game taking the scoreline to 13-17.

The visitors suffered a setback when Force lost Andrew Ready to red card for off the ball tackle but all Waratahs managed was a penalty kick from Harrison in the 73rd minute. As the full time was nearing, Force earned a vital scrum penalty that replacement Ian Prior kicked to complete a 20-16 win - their first win since 2017.

Team line-up:

Waratahs: 1 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Dave Porecki, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 4 Sam Caird, 5 Hugh Sinclair, 6 Lachlan Swinton, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 8 Jack Dempsey, 9 Jack Grant, 10 Will Harrison, 11 James Ramm, 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Alex Newsome, 14 Jack Maddocks, 15 Mark Nawaqanitawase

Reserves: Tom Horton, Sio Tatola, Chris Talakai, Jack Whetton, Jeremy Williams, Henry Robertson, Tane Edmed, Triston Reilly

Western Force: 1 Tom Robertson, 2 Feleti Kaitu'u, 3 Santiago Medrano, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 5 Fergus Lee-Warner, 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Kane Koteka, 8 Brynard Stander, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 10 Jake McIntyre, 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Richard Kahui, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 14 Byron Ralston, 15 Rob Kearney

Reserves: Andrew Ready, Angus Wagner, Greg Holmes, Ryan McCauley, Tomas Lezana, Ian Prior, Domingo Miotti, Marcel Brache