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Force star looking to rebound after costing his side against over Brumbies

(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Western Force coach Tim Simpson is backing Kyle Godwin to rebound strongly from two costly mistakes in a heartbreaking Super Rugby Pacific loss to the Brumbies.

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The Force were on track to snatch a rare victory in Canberra after scoring a late try to take the lead in Sunday’s clash.

But with just two minutes left on the clock, Godwin’s clearing kick from his defensive 22m went into the middle of the ground instead of close to the sideline.

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It allowed the Brumbies to launch a quick counter-attack with plenty of clear space on either side and Lachie Lonergan crossed a short time later to secure the 29-23 victory.

Godwin had also committed an error a few minutes earlier when he kicked the ball out on the full from outside the 22m.

Sampson acknowledged Godwin’s clearing kick with two minutes remaining should have gone down the line, but he’s confident the 29-year-old will rebound strongly in Saturday’s clash with the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park.

“I had a good chat with Kyle about that, and he felt the same,” Sampson said.

“He was mindful about kicking the ball out on the full.

“He received a bit of inside pressure on his left boot, and the wind was pretty strong going left to right, which is why it sailed midfield a bit.

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“In an ideal world we hit the 15m channel and apply pressure there with our kick chase.

“He’s an experienced guy, got a nice left kick on him. We’ll be backing him every day of the week.”

The Force will be without inside centre Bayley Kuenzle (concussion) against the Rebels.

Flyhalf Reesjan Pasitoa performed strongly in his starting debut, and Sampson is keen to unleash the 20-year-in again.

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“I’m sure the Rebels are going to target him being a young No.10, but he’s got a pretty cool head on his shoulders, and we’ve seen he doesn’t mind the physicality, so he’ll be right,” Sampson said.

The Rebels were thumped 23-5 by the Queensland Reds last week, but Sampson wasn’t reading too much into the result due to the wet and humid conditions.

Rugby Australia infamously axed the Western Force instead of the Rebels in 2017.

Sampson said the history between the two clubs was just that – history.

“What are we, four or five years on now?” Sampson said.

“If we dwell on the past too much, it takes away key focuses for us.

“We are well beyond that. We’ve got a lot of new players, a lot of new staff in, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss that or dwell on it.”

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J
JW 16 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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