The Waratahs' Michael Hooper is tackled
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Matches: Force 18 - 11 New South Wales Waratahs

The Western Force have put a dent in the NSW Waratahs' ambitions of winning Super Rugby's Australian conference, beating the defending champions for a second time this season.

Off the back of a try in each half to Ryan Louwrens and captain Matt Hodgson, the Force ground down the Waratahs to win 18-11 at nib Stadium. The Force had also opened the 2015 season with a 25-13 win over the Waratahs in Sydney but then lost 10 matches in between in a season of bad luck, missed opportunities and frustration.

The Waratahs did score a second half try courtesy of exciting winger Taqele Naiyaravoro, but it wasn't enough to back up last week's win over the Brumbies. As a result the Waratahs missed the chance to jump to the top of the Australian conference ahead of the Brumbies with five games to go. The sides are now locked on 32 points apiece on the ladder.

It took 20 minutes for the game's first score but that came courtesy of the Force when a turnover by Ben McCalman set up halfback Louwrens to make his path through an opening in the Waratahs' defence and score a try. Luke Burton converted after having come on to briefly replace Sias Ebersohn who was being tested for concussion, but the 'Tahs worked back into the contest with penalties by Bernard Foley.

Things turned again just before half-time though, with Sekope Kepu's sin binning for stomping in the ruck and then two more penalties to Burton helping the Force to a 13-6 lead. The Waratahs scored the first try of the second half through Naiyaravoro, but the Force hit back thanks to Hodgson scoring the five-pointer on the back of a terrific rolling maul.

The Force then led 18-11 but Hodgson received a yellow card in the 70th minute, leaving him sidelined for the rest of the match. The Waratahs however couldn't take advantage of their edge in numbers and were left to rue another loss to the unfancied home side.

Waratahs coach Michael Cheika couldn't hide his frustration over his team's performance and a late tackle on star Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper hurt a knee.

Ryan Louwrens scored the Force's first try © Getty Images

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"He (Hooper) got a bump on his knee and that's what happens when you get tackled without the ball. When you don't have the ball and you don't expect to get hit, and you get hit, you get injuries. I don't know how bad it is but it doesn't look great," Cheika said. "I don't think there's anything to say and words are cheap. We didn't go on there with enough positive attitude to go and play the game how we wanted to. We got what we deserved."

Force coach Michael Foley was beaming with pride over his team's attitude from the start to achieve the gutsy win.

"We just responded to last week and I'm very proud of them and to be part of the team," Foley said. "They played through the 80 minutes with wonderful attitude. You just felt there was a lot of energy from the whole squad in that performance against a side that beat the Brumbies last week and a side starting to hit their straps."