Carlo Tizzano scored twice, including the match-winner, as the Western Force fought back from 20–7 down to beat the NSW Waratahs 31–25 at a rain-soaked HBF Park, but the evening was overshadowed by a suspected Achilles injury to Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon.
Key moments
14 mins – TRY WARATAHS: Ioane Moananu scooped the ball from the base of the ruck and went straight through the middle to score under the posts. Jack Bowen converts. (Force 0–7 Waratahs)
16 mins – INJURY: Pete Samu left the field with a knee injury later revealed as a medial ligament issue. Clem Halaholo replaced him. Miles Amatosero also departed for an HIA and did not return.
20 mins – PENALTY WARATAHS: Bowen slotted a penalty from 38 metres after the Force were penalised at the breakdown. (Force 0–10 Waratahs)
23 mins – PENALTY WARATAHS: Bowen added another penalty after a powerful Max Jorgensen linebreak left the Force scrambling and offside. (Force 0–13 Waratahs)
25 mins – TRY FORCE: Dylan Pietsch scored a bizarre try after the Waratahs spilled the restart, with Harry Potter unable to regather the loose ball and Pietsch diving back over his body to ground it. Ben Donaldson converts. (Force 7–13 Waratahs)
28 mins – TRY WARATAHS: Sustained phase play with Jorgensen and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii making big metres. Moananu lobbed a pass over the top for Potter to stroll in against his former side. Bowen converts. (Force 7–20 Waratahs)
33 mins – YELLOW CARD WARATAHS: Joey Walton shown a yellow card for direct shoulder-to-head contact on Nathan Hastie after a TMO review.
35 mins – TRY FORCE: Pietsch’s second. Zac Lomax came off his wing to find Pietsch, who stepped back inside and beat four defenders to score. Donaldson hits the post. (Force 12–20 Waratahs)
37 mins – INJURY: Jake Gordon went down clutching his lower leg after taking a quick tap from a free kick. He was carried from the field with a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon.
Half-time: Force 12–20 Waratahs. The Waratahs were the more clinical side, striking first through Moananu and controlling territory through Bowen’s boot. But Pietsch’s double kept the Force in touch. Gordon’s injury cast a shadow over the contest. The rain was pouring in Perth.
47 mins – TRY FORCE: The Force won a crucial lineout and marched to the goal line via the maul. Misinale Epenisa powered over from a metre out. Donaldson misses. (Force 17–20 Waratahs)
52–59 mins – FORCE SCRUM DOMINANCE: The Force won four consecutive scrum penalties inside the Waratahs’ 22, repeatedly repacking five metres from the line.
61 mins – TRY FORCE: Carlo Tizzano peeled to the right from the back of the scrum and powered over from close range, becoming the Force’s outright all-time leading try scorer with his 31st five-pointer. Donaldson converts. (Force 24–20 Waratahs)
67 mins – TRY WARATAHS: Suaalii burst through at least three defenders from the lineout to get the Waratahs to the goal line. After sustained pressure, Apolosi Ranawai reached out to ground the ball on the line, confirmed by TMO. Jack Debreczeni misses. (Force 24–25 Waratahs)
71 mins – TRY FORCE: Tizzano scored his second from another rolling maul, peeling away and diving over at the back to retake the lead. Kurtley Beale converts. (Force 31–25 Waratahs)
74 mins – KEY MOMENT: Donaldson landed an inch-perfect 50–22 to swing field position late, pinning the Waratahs deep.
78 mins – MISSED PENALTY FORCE: Beale pushed a long-range penalty attempt to the right from 42 metres. (Force 31–25 Waratahs)
80 mins: The Waratahs had one final lineout on halfway but the throw was ruled not straight. The Force kicked to touch to seal the win.
Full-time: Force 31–25 Waratahs
Match report
This was supposed to be a dead rubber. Neither side could make the play-offs, the rain was bucketing down in Perth, and a crowd of just 5,289 had turned out for the Force’s Members Game. What they got was a contest that swung back and forth across 80 minutes, featuring five lead changes, a record-breaking try scorer, and an injury that will send shockwaves through Australian rugby ahead of the July Tests.
Gordon’s suspected Achilles rupture was the story of the night. The 32-year-old Wallabies halfback took a quick tap in the 39th minute and went down after just a couple of steps, clutching his right leg. He was carried from the field in obvious distress. Former Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White, watching from the sideline, described it as “gut-wrenching” and confirmed at half-time that Gordon believed he had done his Achilles. “Said it felt like a weird sensation down there as soon as he took off. He’s pretty gutted,” White said. Coach Dan McKellar was equally blunt: “I’m shattered for Jake. No one cares about New South Wales and the Waratahs more than Jake, and just for him to do it in the last game of the season before the Test season’s about to begin — disappointing.” If confirmed, Gordon will miss the entire 2026 Test programme, with the Wallabies’ Nations Championship campaign opening against Ireland in Sydney on July 4. Tate McDermott and Ryan Lonergan are next in line at No. 9.
Gordon was not the only casualty. Samu’s knee twisted awkwardly in the ninth minute when he slipped on the wet turf while bracing for a tackle. The No. 8 tried to play on before eventually departing, with the injury later confirmed as a medial ligament issue. Amatosero also failed an HIA in the first half and did not return.
The match itself was a tale of two halves. The Waratahs controlled the opening 30 minutes, with Moananu opening the scoring after picking from the base of a ruck and charging through the middle under the posts. Bowen added two penalties from the tee as Jorgensen’s linebreaking runs gave the visitors territory and momentum. At 13–0, the Force were struggling to get a foothold in the contest.
Pietsch’s first try was a gift. The Force kicked off deep and Potter fumbled the ball over his own line, unable to ground it, with Pietsch diving back over Potter’s body to claim the scraps. Donaldson converted and the Force were on the board at 7–13. Potter made amends minutes later, strolling in after 13 phases of sustained pressure on the Force line, and Bowen converted for 7–20.
The yellow card to Walton in the 33rd minute for a shoulder-to-head tackle on Hastie shifted the contest. Within two minutes, Lomax had worked a ball wide for Pietsch, who stepped back inside and beat four defenders to score his second. Donaldson’s conversion struck the post but the Force were back within eight at the break.
The second half belonged to the Force’s forwards. Epenisa powered over from a metre out after a lineout maul in the 47th minute, and then the scrum took over. The Force won four consecutive scrum penalties inside the Waratahs’ 22, each time opting to repack five metres out rather than take the three points. It was a brave call and it paid off when Tizzano peeled to the right and powered over in the 61st minute. Donaldson converted and the Force led 24–20. The try was Tizzano’s 31st for the franchise — surpassing foundation member Cameron Shepherd’s long-standing record to become the Force’s outright all-time leading try scorer.
The Waratahs hit back. Suaalii produced one of the carries of the night, bursting through at least three defenders from the lineout to reach the Force’s goal line. After sustained pressure, replacement prop Ranawai reached out through a pile of bodies to ground the ball, confirmed by the TMO. Debreczeni missed the conversion but the Waratahs led 25–24.
The lead lasted four minutes. Nic Dolly’s 50-metre clearance kick from a stolen lineout flipped the field position, and the Force’s lineout maul did the rest. Tizzano was again at the back, peeling away and diving over to score his second and retake the lead at 31–25. Beale converted from the sideline. Donaldson’s inch-perfect 50–22 three minutes later pinned the Waratahs deep, and although Beale missed a long-range penalty that would have sealed it, the Waratahs could not escape their own half in the closing stages. Their final lineout on halfway was ruled not straight and the Force kicked to touch.
“A really good note to end on,” Force captain Jeremy Williams said. “It’s awesome we could get the win and finish the season on a high. Although we haven’t made it to finals, which was our goal, we’ve really developed over the last couple of years and I’m really proud of the effort.”
The result lifts the Force to seventh with a 7–7 record — their best season since 2014 and their fifth win in six matches to close the campaign. The victory also completed a season double over the Waratahs, only the third time the Force have achieved that feat in Super Rugby. For the eighth-placed Waratahs (5–9), another underwhelming season ends with soul-searching ahead. Captain Matt Philip said the effort could not be faulted but execution had let them down. “We’re very aware that the results haven’t been good enough,” he said. McKellar, contracted for one more season, called for patience: “You’ve got to roll with the punches. Times like this make the good times feel even better and they’ll come.”
Match details
Force 31 (Tries: Dylan Pietsch 2, Carlo Tizzano 2, Misinale Epenisa; Conversions: Ben Donaldson 2/4, Kurtley Beale 1/1; Penalties: Beale 0/1)
Waratahs 25 (Tries: Ioane Moananu, Harry Potter, Apolosi Ranawai; Conversions: Jack Bowen 2/2, Jack Debreczeni 0/1; Penalties: Bowen 2/3)
Half-time: 12–20
Cards: Joey Walton (yellow, 33 mins)
Venue: HBF Park, Perth
Attendance: 5,289
Referee: Marcus Playle (New Zealand)
Teams
Force: 15 Mac Grealy, 14 Zac Lomax, 13 George Bridge, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Nathan Hastie, 8 Vailoni Ekuasi, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 5 Darcy Swain, 4 Jeremy Williams (c), 3 Misinale Epenisa, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Harry Johnson-Holmes.
Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Sef Fa’agase, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Will Harris, 21 Agustin Moyano, 22 Boston Fakafanua, 23 Kurtley Beale.
Waratahs: 15 Max Jorgensen, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Joey Walton, 11 Andrew Kellaway, 10 Jack Bowen, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Jamie Adamson, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Matt Philip (c), 3 Dan Botha, 2 Ioane Moananu, 1 Jack Barrett.
Replacements: 16 Oniti Finau, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Apolosi Ranawai, 19 Ben Grant, 20 Clem Halaholo, 21 Teddy Wilson, 22 Jack Debreczeni, 23 Triston Reilly.
What’s next
Both the Force and Waratahs’ seasons are over. The Force finish seventh (7–7), the Waratahs eighth (5–9). The qualifying finals begin next weekend:
Friday 5 June, 7:05pm NZST / 5:05pm AEST: Hurricanes (1st) v Brumbies (6th), Sky Stadium, Wellington
Saturday 6 June, 4:35pm NZST / 2:35pm AEST: Crusaders (3rd) v Blues (4th), One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch
Saturday 6 June, 7:05pm NZST / 5:05pm AEST: Chiefs (2nd) v Reds (5th), FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
International2 weeks ago
International2 weeks ago
International2 weeks ago
International2 weeks ago
International3 weeks ago
Australia2 weeks ago
International1 week ago
International2 weeks ago