With the injuries the Force are carrying it's unlikely that they will be able to pull off a victory in Wellington.
However with the Reds beating the Crusaders and the Cheetahs upsetting the Sharks it's a weekend for upsets. Anything can happen.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick off.
0.01: The Force kick off and we are underway.
2.00: The Hurricanes start their attack but as Nonu gets go forward ball he is tackled and loses the ball forward. Sheehan starts the counterattack and the Force keep going forward until they get a penalty (Tialata offside).
3.00: James O'Connor takes the penalty kick and nails it.
6.00: Matt Dunning is struggling with engaging early in the scrum. Lots of reset scrums.
8.00: The Hurricanes are attacking well in the Force's 25 but the Force defence has been pretty outstanding. They do however give away a penalty so Willie Ripia has a shot at goal and nails it.
10.00; James O'Connor goes up for a ball and gets hit in the air by two Hurricanes and goes straight down. He gets some medical attention which holds the game up.
12.00: The Hurricanes stretch the Force's defence and then they put in the grubber kick, Jane chases and pounces on the ball and scores the first try of the match.
14.00:Willie Ripia misses the conversion.
19.00: The Force give away a penalty so Willie Ripia gets another shot at goal. This one he nails.
22.00: The Hurricanes attack again and Ellison puts in another grubber kick and this time David Smith pounces to score the Hurricanes second try.
23.00:Willie Ripia curls the conversion in.
24.00: The Force swing the ball at pace across the field after O'Connor sees an overlap and Josh Tatupu gets in the corner to score the Force's first try.
25.00: James O'Connor takes the conversion and hits the post.
31.00; The Force are doing very well on attack. They drive over the line but referee Vinny Munro says "held up" so we go back for a 5m scrum. Tom Hockings comes off.
32.00: The Force have the Hurricanes under pressure. They keep pressing at the line but Sheehan gets blown up and the Hurricanes win a penalty so they boot the ball to safety.
35.00: As an indication of how the Force are coming back is that the possession and territory are now at 55 per cent in favour of the Force.
36.00: Willie Ripia goes on attack but loses the ball in the tackle so the Force counter attack. The Hurricanes are however caught offside so James O'Connor gets a shot at goal.
37.00: O' Connor takes the kick and misses - it looked good though strangely.
40.00: The half time siren sounds so that's it.
The half time score was Hurricanes 18 Force 8
The second half is underway.
41.52 : The Hurricanes spot that a Force player (Sheehan) is down injured and the referee doesn't so they run at the Force and Michael Paterson breaks free to score the third try for the Hurricanes.
43.00; Ripia's kick goes wide.
46.00: The Force are pressing hard at the Hurricanes. Sharpe has a go but gets caught. They go again. And again. It's good pressure stuff. O'Connor sends a long pass out but the Force get stopped and they turn it over and boot the ball to safety.
50.00: The Hurricanes get a kickable penalty but they want the bonus point try so they set up the line out.
51.00: Waldrom wins the line out but as they go forward they knock on.
53.00:Tamati Ellison finds space again and David Smith gets the ball at pace and runs in his second try. That's the bonus point try.
54.00: Willie Ripia's kick is missed.
58.00: The Force put some pressure on the Hurricanes. They win three penalties as the Hurricanes look to defend. Eventually the Force find space and Dane Haylett-Petty scores in the corner.
60.00: James O'Connor curls the conversion in.
62.00: Haylett-Petty gets a warning for changing his line and blocking David Smith.
65.00: The Hurricanes get the Force on the backfoot and Neemia Tialata drives over the line for the Hurricanes fifth try.
66.00: Piri Weepu takes over the kicking but misses (his first miss this year). Sheehan comes off for the Force.
67.00: The Hurricanes maintain the attack and Joelin Rapana sets up Ma’a Nonu who dives over for the try. Aaron Cruden started the whole break really.
68.00: Weepu adds the conversion.
71.00: Well it's all the Hurricanes now. The Force know they can't win so they have gone to the bench and the reserves are not as good. The Hurricanes drive again for the line and Neemia Tialata gets over for his second try but is held up. 5m scrum.
72.00: Off the back of the scrum Tyson Keats darts through for the try.
73.00: Aaron Cruden takes the conversion and nails it.
77.00: The Force have possession and they set up camp in the Hurricanes half but their scrum struggles and they giev away a penalty. The Hurricanes take the quick tap and run the ball back into the Force's half.
79.00: The Hurricanes maintain the attack but give away a penalty. The Force take the quick tap and as the Hurricanes retreat the Force attack and catch them off gaurd so they run in their third try through Chris O'Young.
80.00: James O'Connor takes the conversion and nails it. The whistle goes for full time.
The final score is Hurricanes 47 Force 22
Scorers
Hurricanes
Tries - C.Jane , D. Smith 2, M. Paterson, N.Tialata, M Nonu, T Keats
Pen - Willie Ripia 2
Con - Willie Ripia, P Weepu, A Cruden
Drop -
Force
Tries - Josh Tatupu, Dane Haylett-Petty,Chris O'Young
Pen - O'Connor
Con - O'Connor 2
Drop -
Match Officials.
Referee: Vinny Munro (NZ)
Ass. refs: Chris Pollock (NZ), Mike Fraser (NZ)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZ)
Teams
Hurricanes:1 John Schwalger, 2 Andrew Hore [c], 3 Neemia Tialata, 4 Bryn Evans, 5 James Broadhurst, 6 Michael Paterson, 7 Scott Waldrom, 8 Victor Vito, 9 Scrumhalf Piri Weepu [vc], 10 Willie Ripia, 11 David Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Conrad Smith, 14 Tamati Ellison, 15 Cory Jane,
Reserves : 16 Dane Coles, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Rodney So’oialo, 19 Karl Lowe, 20 Tyson Keats, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Andre Taylor
Western Force :1. Matt Dunning 2. Pek Cowan 3. Tim Fairbrother 4. Tom Hockings 5. Nathan Sharpe (c) 6. Ben McCalman 7. Matt Hodgson 8. Sam Wykes 9. Brett Sheehan 10. Sam Harris 11. Haig Sare 12. Josh Tatupu 13. Mitch Inman 14. Dane Haylett-Petty 15. James O'Connor
Reserves:16. Ryan Tyrrell 17. Nic Henderson 18. Richard Stanford 19. Luke Jones 20. Chris O'Young 21. Stefano Hunt 22. Joelin Rapana
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