The Waratahs' Jacques Potgieter is tackled
© Getty Images

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Reaction: Force 'getting better technically, mentally, physically'

Reaction: Waratahs 'weren't angry enough' against Force

Matches: New South Wales Waratahs 13 - 25 Force

Players/Officials: Nathan Charles | Israel Folau | Ben McCalman

Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

Teams: Force

Western Force have completed a stunning opening round of Super Rugby upsets, shocking the defending champions, NSW Waratahs, in a massive boilover in Sydney.

Michael Foley's side achieved a win in the opening round for the first time in their history on the back of some bruising defence, and excellent ball-retention as two of their four tries were scored by forwards.

The Waratahs were awful in attack and can expect a brutal week at training, with coach Michael Cheika sure to hammer his side for what was probably the worst performance of his tenure.

"It wasn't pretty with our set-piece but we just fought our way out of it … the boys were outstanding," stand-in Force skipper Sam Wykes told Fox Sports. "We learned how to overcome our disappointment. If something's not working then it's adapt for the game and we done that well. Things didn't go right at the set-piece, as you said, but we were better in other areas so we'll take that."

Waratahs captain Dave Dennis was at a loss to explain his side's uncharacteristic performance. "I thought the preparation was good, the attitude was good, but we just let ourselves down with simple mistakes and turnovers in the game; disappointing," he said. "We didn't want to start like that so we've got a bit of work ahead of us."

The visitors were given the first chance for points on a warm Sydney afternoon after Kurtley Beale was penalised for off-side; but Force fly-half Sias Ebersohn sent his penalty attempt wide on five minutes.

The Force then missed out on a certain five points, and put in an early nomination for howler of the year, when winger Marcel Brache charged down a Bernard Foley kick but knocked-on over the line when attempting to regather. Brache was granted a minor reprieve when Ebersohn raised the flags with his second attempt a little while later; the replay of the winger's blunder won't make for pleasant viewing though.

The Waratahs seemed to be feeling their way into the match in opting to kick - something they did sparingly in 2014 - early on, while their first foray into Force territory ended abruptly when the ball hit the deck. That continued to be the trend for both sides as the sweaty conditions made handling difficult.

Having been dominated in an earlier scrum, the Waratahs exacted revenge on 23 minutes right out in front of the sticks; Bernard Foley made no mistake with the penalty to lock it up at 3-3. Force and Wallabies prop Pek Cowan had stayed down after the scrum and left the field via a stretcher as a precaution.

Brache would soon have some company for his butchering effort as Waratahs prop Benn Robinson spurned his side's best chance of the first half. The veteran front-rower couldn't resist one final movement with referee Steve Walsh correctly ruling a double-movement; a couple more phases would have likely been enough for the game's first five-pointer.

There had been no real linebreaks to speak of until the Force's Alby Mathewson found a yawning gap in behind the Waratahs' lineout and offloaded to Angus Cottrell who was brought down by an ankle-tap metres from the line. The play broke down when Wycliff Palu knocked the ball down from an off-side position, earning himself a yellow card, while the ensuing penalty saw the Force execute a perfect lineout drive for Chris Alcock to score.

Waratahs prop Benn Robinson couldn't resist a double movement © Getty Images

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The Waratahs had one final chance to close the gap before the break but poor handling again let them down.

Up 8-3 at the break, the Force very nearly got the dream start to the second stanza they were after when fullback Dane Haylett-Petty found space on the outside. Another wonderful lineout drive had set-up the opportunity but, luckily for the Waratahs, Adam Ashley-Cooper was on hand to hold Haylett-Petty up over the line.

But the visitors didn't have to wait long for another opportunity; their pack rolling through a number of phases to create a five-pointer for Angus Cottrell, who busted through some tired Waratahs defence to touch down under the sticks.

The Waratahs' poor handling continued early in the second half while Foley missed a kickable penalty to further add to the crowd's frustration. The game looked to have swung the Waratahs' way when Alby Mathewson was sent to the sin-bin. Opting for the quick tap, the Waratahs finally found the try-line through Rob Horne, albeit by the barest of margins in the corner.

The Force managed to repel the Waratahs for the remainder of Mathewson's absence and even built another promising raid of their own. And the tenacious little halfback repaid his side's efforts soon after his return, providing a smart cross-field kick to set-up the match-sealing try for winger Luke Morahan.

What had looked like being a promising Waratahs attack quickly turned into a disaster as the visitors forced a turnover and Mathewson swooped on the bouncing ball down field to provide the final link for Morahan on 68 minutes. Having missed the conversion, Ebersohn was granted he chance for three points a few moments later but again he failed to split the uprights.

If there was ever any doubt about the result, or the likelihood of a Cheika broadside, it was put to bed when Beale attempted a chip kick from inside his own 20. Sensing Beale may be about to produce one of his signature moves, Force replacement Francois van Wyk jumped and gleefully accepted the ball to sprint in for the bonus-point try.

Horne picked up a late consolation try for the hosts but his double was a rare personal highlight on an otherwise disastrous afternoon for the home side.