Super Rugby Pacific: Western Force coach Simon Cron said little mistakes are adding up into big deficit

Western Force coach Simon Cron says his side’s inability to capitalise on little moments is having a big impact as his side’s toil once again went unrewarded in their 24-14 loss to the Chiefs at HBF Park. The Force are staring down the barrel of yet another season without a Super Rugby Pacific finals berth as the hunt for an elusive top-six finish looks set to continue after their fifth loss in their first six games, while star forward Carlo Tizzano was forced off with a knee complaint. There was certainly no lack of effort on the Force’s behalf as they frustrated the Chiefs and proved a stout and worthy opponents, but when there were opportunities for the hosts, they could not convert The top six tackles in the game were all Force players as the home side made 90 more tackles (215-125) and kept the game close late decide the Chiefs’ overwhelming 11-3 line-break count. And while Cron was proud of the effort shown as the Force thwarted the Chiefs for long spells, he was left to rue his side yet again coming up short. The Force have lost four games to Kiwi opponents this year, all of them either by eight or 10 points, but none carrying a bonus point for a defeat by seven points or less. “There’s been a few games like that this year where boys fight hard, work hard, make a lot of tackles, and we’ve just got to be able to take those opportunities that we we created,” Cron said. “There’s big moments and games that will dictate outcome, and those big moments are things like, we give away a silly penalty and end up back on our 22, they win a line-out, we don’t fold somebody and they score a try. “They’re just little things as momentum shifts, and we’ve got to handle those.” Perhaps the moment the Force will rue the most was an attacking phase at 21-14 down where their try-line pressure forced Chiefs prop Ollie Norris into the sin-bin. But with 15 minutes to play, one extra man for the next 10 minutes and an attacking scrum 5m out, the Force bungled possession. Even undermanned, the Chiefs dominated the match from that point on. “We had a scrum on their line. They’re down to seven men and when we play that strike, it’s too predictable, and we get held up,” Cron said. “We’ve got to be able to take those opportunities and get those big moments right, and that’s what we’ll reflect on, but in terms of the boys getting off the ground and defending for long blocks and working their arse off, I can’t fault them on that, we’ve just got to be clinical in those small moments. “We had every opportunity there, scrum in the middle of the field, for us to start to peel the onion and push them in the last part of that game, but they controlled it well, slowed it down and and we need to be able to respond to those.” Cron is taking solace from the Force having played four of the top five teams in the league, with the fifth being next week’s opponents Queensland Reds, who were smashed 52-14 by the Hurricanes on the weekend. “Punch for punch, we’re in those fights, but we need to make sure we nail those little moments in our game to be able to get the win and get those points.” Ex-rugby league star Zac Lomax warmed up with the Force and watched the game in the coaches’ box as he eyes a debut over the next fortnight. “He sat in the box again today, just to talk about the game and understand where we are. He will be a great addition for us in the team. He’s a big strong body, he’s a pretty dominant human which probably at times we need,” Cron said.