Western Force coach Simon Cron insists his side is concentrating solely on their opponents rather than the ladder, even though their finals aspirations could be extinguished before they take the field against the Fijian Drua on Saturday.
The ninth-placed Force require a victory, ideally with a bonus point, when they host the Drua at HBF Park on Saturday night to keep their top-six hopes alive heading into the final round of the regular season.
They trail the fifth-placed Brumbies by seven points and are six points adrift of the sixth-placed Queensland Reds. Wins for both the Brumbies and Reds over the Waratahs and last-placed Moana Pasifika respectively would almost certainly end the Force’s bid for a maiden finals berth.
However, rather than scrutinising the ladder and hoping for a Reds slip-up on Saturday afternoon, Cron emphasised that all attention is directed towards their game plan against a dangerous Drua outfit.
“For us, it’s about us, what we do and how we do it. The boys are pretty clear on that this week again, so it’s just about getting out there and playing our game,” he said.
“Outcome is one thing, but role and dominating your role is more important.
“It’s a must-win, has been for a while. The boys have been really good at keeping that edge, they know what they need to do.
“It’s great opportunity to learn how to handle those moments and what you’re going to do in those moments, and the boys have done that now for a few weeks so it adds to the belief and understanding.”
Two former Force fan favourites, scrum-half Issak Fines-Leleiwasa and winger Manasa Mataele, will start for the Drua. Cron warned his side cannot afford a repeat of the ball security issues that plagued them in their 24-22 defeat to the Fijians in April.
“(We need) execution all over the field, you don’t want to give the Drua free ball. We were a little bit guilty of that in our game over in Fiji,” he said.
“There’s got to be a set-piece element to our game every week, irrelevant of who we’re playing so that’ll be the starter, and then doing the basics well every week is important.
“Whether it be the Drua, the Reds, Waratahs, making sure we do the things that work on the ground, ball-carry height, all the things that make our game work.”
Cron paid tribute to Wallabies veteran Kurtley Beale, who will play his 186th Super Rugby Pacific match, moving him into third place on the all-time appearance list for the competition.
“KB is an enormous role model in the game, not only in the indigenous space but throughout rugby in Australia for a long period of time,” he said.
“He’s a thinker, he’s a family man, he does a lot of stuff for us that we think is really critically important, and he’s brought a lot of spark into the last 20-30 minutes of our games.
“That’s a credit to what he does with his body each week. He’s one of the ones that every Sunday will be in ice baths, recovery, stretching, roll-outs.
“People who last a long time in the game are the best professionals, the ones who look after their bodies and their bodies are their tool.”
