Waratahs vs Force: what's happening and what it means

The Force have kept their finals hope alive after defeating the NSW Waratahs 20-17 in Sydney. Waratahs vs Force has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in New Zealand.

Key facts

• The Force have kept their finals hope alive after defeating the NSW Waratahs 20-17 in Sydney.
• Waratahs coach Dan McKellar has admitted his team was “bullied” after the Force won 20-17 in Sydney.
• The Western Force have kept their Super Rugby Pacific playoff hopes alive with a hard-fought 20-17 win against the NSW Waratahs.
• Force winger Dylan Pietsch scored his third try in three games just before half-time, muscling past the Waratahs’ defence after 21 phases of patient play from the visitors to level the game at 10-all.
• With five minutes left of the game in their first visit past the Force 22-metre line, the Waratahs scored a converted try through Fainga’a to give the chance of an unlikely win, but it was too late and too late as the Force clung on.

What we know

Going deeper, Waratahs coach Dan McKellar has admitted his team was “bullied” after the Force won 20-17 in Sydney.

On the substance, the Western Force have kept their Super Rugby Pacific playoff hopes alive with a hard-fought 20-17 win against the NSW Waratahs.

Beyond the headlines, Force winger Dylan Pietsch scored his third try in three games just before half-time, muscling past the Waratahs’ defence after 21 phases of patient play from the visitors to level the game at 10-all.

More precisely, With five minutes left of the game in their first visit past the Force 22-metre line, the Waratahs scored a converted try through Fainga’a to give the chance of an unlikely win, but it was too late and too late as the Force clung on.

It is worth noting that the Force have kept their hopes of reaching finals alive, while the Waratahs now face a challenging journey to Dunedin, knowing they must beat the Highlanders to have any chance of a top-six finish.

By the numbers

At this stage, the Waratahs almost stole the game with a 74th-minute try from hooker Folau Faingaa, but a subsequent Teddy Wilson knock-on ended that brief and small hope.

On a related note, before the game, the Waratahs held the unwanted record of just 27 per cent of entries into the 22 leading to tries, making them the most inefficient team in attack in Super Rugby.

Going deeper, after 12 minutes, the Waratahs had an early opportunity to take a kickable penalty, but turned it down.

On the substance, the playmaker dummied and spun through attempted tackles from the Force to finally get his team on the scoreboard after 33 long and error-strewn minutes.

What they're saying

“Stop making 300 tackles... no one’s touching the ball and when you’ve got 32 per cent territory, all you’re doing is defending and then trying to get out of your own end, so you get squeezed to death and bullied in and around the breakdown,” the coach said.

“We were bullied in and around the ruck, that’s both attack and defence, and they just came here with a pretty bland plan and it worked,” McKellar said. “It’s just disappointing that we didn’t start to fire a punch until we were down by 10 points.”

“I can’t flick a switch and be like, Su (Suaalii), here’s space, you’ve got to earn that.”

The wider context

On a related note, If Super Round in Christchurch was a three-day, sold-out festival of rugby that will live long in the memory, the Force’s win over the Waratahs was the disappointing after-party in Sydney.

Going deeper, the Waratahs were eventually rewarded for an extended period spent near the Force tryline with a try for five-eighth Lawson Creighton.

On the substance, the Waratahs were forced to absorb wave after wave of Force pressure throughout the second half.

Beyond the headlines, Folau Faingaa gave the Waratahs a fighting chance with a try in the dying stages, making it a one-score game with about five minutes left, but the Force did enough to hang on.

More precisely, a Donaldson penalty extended the Force’s lead to 10 points with 12 minutes left.

The bottom line

• The Western Force have kept their Super Rugby Pacific playoff hopes alive with a hard-fought 20-17 win against the NSW Waratahs.
• The Force have kept their hopes of reaching finals alive, while the Waratahs now face a challenging journey to Dunedin, knowing they must beat the Highlanders to have any chance of a top-six finish.
• The Waratahs were eventually rewarded for an extended period spent near the Force tryline with a try for five-eighth Lawson Creighton.
• Searches spiking right now: Waratahs vs Force takes: Pietsch and Grealy the big winners out of derby, RECAP: Force guts it out for crucial win over Waratahs, Waratahs 17-20 Western Force | Super Rugby Pacific highlights, Western Force post-game press conference vs Waratahs - R12 2026.