Michael Cheika says Waratahs need to get angry after shock loss to Western Force

MICHAEL Cheika will be shoving handfuls of angry pills into his lacklustre Waratahs side after the passive premiers suffered a shock loss to Western Force.

Waratahs v Force

MICHAEL Cheika will be shoving handfuls of angry pills into his lacklustre Waratahs side this week after the passive premiers suffered a shock loss to Western Force at Allianz Stadium.

“I don’t think we were angry enough, to be honest,” Cheika said following the 25-13 defeat.

“You’ve got to get angry in this game, it’s a contact sport. We weren’t angry enough today and it was pretty clear.”

The Force were physically dominant, and successfully stifled any of the rhythm NSW required to unleash the attack that delivered them the Super Rugby title last year.

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It was the first time the Force has won their opening game of the season in the history of the tournament, and they managed to score four tries to two in an assertive victory.

While Cheika described his side’s defensive maul as “passive” and also lamented the players’ lack of urgency in backing up, he took full blame for the defeat.

“I’d say I got the preparation wrong to be honest, I think I’ve got the lead-up wrong, obviously, because we didn’t have any zip at the ruck,” Cheika said.

“I’ve got to take some responsibility that maybe I didn’t get the balance right to have us ready for game one.”

Waratahs stars Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale react after a Force try.

Cheika clarified that he wasn’t referring to his time management between the dual roles of being the Waratahs and Wallabies head coach, but rather his focus within each training sessions for NSW.

“(The dual coaching issue) is irrelevant, this is about what’s happening at training, and what our plan is,” Cheika said.

“The reality is there is plenty of time to focus on what you need to win rugby matches, that’s part of myself, the players, getting our heads on and saying ‘This is the area we need to be really good at to beat this team’.”

He added: “If you’re not introspective around how you think you’ve prepared, you’re no good.

“I’m very disappointed for our supporters, not because we lost but because we didn’t play the way we play.”

The Tahs looked at times like they were still tipsy from last year’s celebrations, making nine handling errors, but Cheika was confident his troops would rediscover their championship qualities.

“Obviously you can see we’re disappointed because we always want to play to our potential, but the one thing I’ll always do with this team is back them to bounce back,” Cheika said.

“We’ve been in many holes over the last couple of years, and I know that we’ve got players that are passionate enough to say ‘Right, I know what I need to fix now and I know what I need to amend from that game to the next game’.

“Disappointed yes, but sometimes those are the things you need to give you a slap across the face to say ‘Right, let’s get moving’.”

Jaques Potgieter is stopped by the Force defence.

NSW will need to get moving quickly because they have a five-day turnaround to play in Melbourne against the Rebels, who were simply outstanding in defeating the Crusaders last Friday.

The game now looms as far more dangerous than what it originally appeared and the Tahs can ill afford to lose their opening two games if they are to keep pace with an ominous looking Brumbies side in the Australian conference.

The Force have now won successive games against NSW by impressively shutting down their go-forward.

Former Waratahs flanker Chris Alcock scored the first try after 36 minutes when the Force used a driving maul from the lineout to power over, after Wycliff Palu had been sin-binned, and the visitors led 8-3 at half-time.

Waratahs centre Adam Ashley-Cooper is brought to ground.

Six minutes after the break Angus Cottrell ran through Dave Dennis’ attempted tackle to score under the posts, giving the visitors a shock 15-3 lead.

Winger Rob Horne hit back with a try for NSW, but rival Luke Morahan scored a brilliant five-pointer when halfback Alby Mathewson kicked across field following a turnover break and the speedster pounced on the line.

Centre Kurtley Beale was out of sorts for NSW, making several errors including an attempted chip-and-chase from his own quarter that was caught by Force prop Francois van Wyk who then raced 20 metres to score the clincher.

Horne grabbed his double shortly before full-time but it was too late for NSW to even earn a bonus point.

Cheika conceded his team had been outdone by the Force’s tactics and could only take solace from the performance of rampaging lock Will Skelton.

“To stop us playing, coming around the scrums and being penalised, or at the ruck blocking our way, that’s part of the deal,” Cheika said.

“But you’ll overcome that by running hard, real hard.

Waratahs No. 8 Wycliff Palu is stopped by the Force defence.

“Will Skelton played well today, ran hard, ran straight, got us over the gain line well — anything good we did was usually off the back of what he did in the inside section, 80 minutes worth as well.

“Maybe everyone can have a look at that game.”

The game was held up for 10 minutes in the first half while Force prop Pek Cowan was stretchered off the field with a neck injury.

Force coach Michael Foley said afterwards that Cowan had feeling in his fingers and toes in the dressing room but required scans to assess the full damage of his injury.

FORCE 25 (Chris Alcock, Angus Cottrell, Luke Morahan, Francois van Wyk tries Sias Ebersohn con pen) bt NSW WARATAHS 13 (Rob Horne 2 tries Bernard Foley pen) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Steve R. Walsh. Crowd: 20,271.

Originally published as Michael Cheika says Waratahs need to get angry after shock loss to Western Force