Round 7 Auckland Blues v Western Force
Force attacks coach Ozich says 'we're up for big challenge' against Blues
Tue, Apr 2, 2024, 4:00 AM
Ben Somerford
Western Force attacks coach Mark Ozich says the mood within the playing group is positive and says they are up for the big challenge of Fridays clash with the second-placed Blues.
The Force flew into Auckland on Saturday evening ahead of Fridays game which starts at 2:05pm WST, after going down 31-13 to the Fijian Drua in driving rain in Lautoka in Round 6.
Saturdays loss to the Drua left the Force in 12th with a 1-5 win-loss record, but Ozich said theyd moved on to focus on the Blues test.
Obviously it was tough over there in Fiji, disappointing in terms of not getting the result, Ozich told reporters.
Weve bounced back and I think the mood, by and large, is pretty positive about moving on to the Blues and the next challenge. Definitely a tough one in Fiji.
We had a good plan going into that game. As the rain came in the day before, it rained for 24 hours there, weve spent three months in Perth and there hasnt been any rain.
We were confident with our plan. We talked about it today around our skill execution in those conditions, we struggled to play territory, we struggled to execute our set piece. They executed much better than us more often in those conditions.
Obviously changing direction, set piece and that foundation of scrum, it was difficult for us. Theres a whole lot of learnings in that.
The Blues appear to be one of the Super Rugby Pacific title contenders, sitting second with a 5-1 win-loss record following a strong 47-8 victory over Moana Pasifika.
Ozich said the squad had been determined to take lessons from Fiji and remain positive in preparation for Fridays game at Eden Park.
Thats the challenge in coaching, theres an art and a science to it, Ozich said. It was difficult in those conditions to play we wanted to play.
Weve got to move on and stay positive. We had a good review today. We found some of the gold nuggets and took the learnings and put a plan together to go into Friday night against the Blues.
Now its about, ok, we take the learnings, acknowledge some of the things we got wrong but now its about building some momentum through this week. Weve got a new challenge. The Blues is a good challenge for us. Its a big challenge but were up for it.
Ozich, who has personal connections with Blues assistant coaches Craig McGrath and Paul Tito, pointed to their physical style along with their kicking game, headlined by fly-half Stephen Perofeta plus outside backs Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea.
Weve been tracking the Blues, he said. Its clear theyre a powerful explosive team.
Were going to have to be on our game and those collisions, those first-up tackles. If our defence can stop their gain line and we can frustrate them, hopefully thatll flow on to the attacking side of the ball.
The big thing is to stop their go-forward on a physical space. Secondary to that is their kicking game with the likes of Perofeta, and their outside backs Caleb Clarke and Telea, theyre good in the air, they kick a lot so were going to have to be good in the air and negate some of that high ball they put in behind.
Its a big challenge. Its going to be a physical one on Friday night, so weve got to get that right if were any chance to upset them.
Tue, Apr 2, 2024, 4:00 AM
Ben Somerford
Western Force attacks coach Mark Ozich says the mood within the playing group is positive and says they are up for the big challenge of Fridays clash with the second-placed Blues.
The Force flew into Auckland on Saturday evening ahead of Fridays game which starts at 2:05pm WST, after going down 31-13 to the Fijian Drua in driving rain in Lautoka in Round 6.
Saturdays loss to the Drua left the Force in 12th with a 1-5 win-loss record, but Ozich said theyd moved on to focus on the Blues test.
Obviously it was tough over there in Fiji, disappointing in terms of not getting the result, Ozich told reporters.
Weve bounced back and I think the mood, by and large, is pretty positive about moving on to the Blues and the next challenge. Definitely a tough one in Fiji.
We had a good plan going into that game. As the rain came in the day before, it rained for 24 hours there, weve spent three months in Perth and there hasnt been any rain.
We were confident with our plan. We talked about it today around our skill execution in those conditions, we struggled to play territory, we struggled to execute our set piece. They executed much better than us more often in those conditions.
Obviously changing direction, set piece and that foundation of scrum, it was difficult for us. Theres a whole lot of learnings in that.
The Blues appear to be one of the Super Rugby Pacific title contenders, sitting second with a 5-1 win-loss record following a strong 47-8 victory over Moana Pasifika.
Ozich said the squad had been determined to take lessons from Fiji and remain positive in preparation for Fridays game at Eden Park.
Thats the challenge in coaching, theres an art and a science to it, Ozich said. It was difficult in those conditions to play we wanted to play.
Weve got to move on and stay positive. We had a good review today. We found some of the gold nuggets and took the learnings and put a plan together to go into Friday night against the Blues.
Now its about, ok, we take the learnings, acknowledge some of the things we got wrong but now its about building some momentum through this week. Weve got a new challenge. The Blues is a good challenge for us. Its a big challenge but were up for it.
Ozich, who has personal connections with Blues assistant coaches Craig McGrath and Paul Tito, pointed to their physical style along with their kicking game, headlined by fly-half Stephen Perofeta plus outside backs Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea.
Weve been tracking the Blues, he said. Its clear theyre a powerful explosive team.
Were going to have to be on our game and those collisions, those first-up tackles. If our defence can stop their gain line and we can frustrate them, hopefully thatll flow on to the attacking side of the ball.
The big thing is to stop their go-forward on a physical space. Secondary to that is their kicking game with the likes of Perofeta, and their outside backs Caleb Clarke and Telea, theyre good in the air, they kick a lot so were going to have to be good in the air and negate some of that high ball they put in behind.
Its a big challenge. Its going to be a physical one on Friday night, so weve got to get that right if were any chance to upset them.