'It's disappointing': Force fade late against Chiefs as Super Rugby finals hopes start to slip away

The Western Force appear destined to miss the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs yet again after another competitive performance failed to translate into competition points.

The perennial battlers were in the fight against the Chiefs when captain Jeremy Williams scored in the second half to lock things up at 14-14.

But the visitors played the better pressure rugby as the rain started to fall in Perth, with reserve hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho scoring the go-ahead try and Damian McKenzie booting the Chiefs clear for a scratchy 24-14 win on Saturday night.

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The Force remain 10th of 11 teams with a 1-5 record while the 4-2 Chiefs jump to fifth.

"It's disappointing, we've lost quite a few games now by a small margin and obviously missed out on the bonus point there," Williams told Stan Sport.

"It's disappointing, but we've got to get on, take our learnings, and move on to the Reds next week."

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Going into the game on an eight-game winning streak against the Force, who they had piled 209 points on in their four previous meetings, this was a rather different state of affairs for the Chiefs.

Centre Quinn Tupaea was again immense (beating a game-high seven defenders) and topping the visitors' tackle count (13 without a miss), while handed another shot in the No.10 jersey, Josh Jacomb was dangerous with his running game, going game-high with metres (95) and clean breaks (4).

Captain Luke Jacobson was strong on return from injury, and hooker Brodie McAlister made a successful return from his broken hand and had his moments, while the bench of Jono Gibbes' side played a pivotal role, with big contributions from Taukei'aho, Kaylum Boshier and Cortez Ratima as well as some bright patches from the forgotten Kyren Taumoefolau.

McKenzie, though, in being shifted back to fullback (until the final 15 minutes), struggled under the high ball, then for a second-straight week missed a penalty attempt from handy range which would have all but made the game safe.

The Chiefs then turned down another shot a bit further out a couple of minutes later, before opting to eventually make the margin double digits in the 79th minute.

A scoreless first quarter of the game paved the way, with both teams guilty of errors with what was at that time a dry ball before the rain arrived late in the first half.

With a 49kg pack advantage, the Chiefs came up with a big scrum penalty win and that laid the platform for them to go on a huge 26-phase wave of attack, which after a penalty and another scrum, eventually led to the game's first points, when Jacobson charged over in the 22nd minute.

But despite creating plenty of chances, the Chiefs just weren't able to add to their advantage.

They got into some of their attacking, offloading best footy, but Xavier Roe butchered a great break by throwing a ball forward, then another five-pointer went begging when Jacomb sliced through but couldn't get a ball away in the great covering tackle of Max Burey.

The Force fullback then swiftly followed up that fine play with a try of his own, as George Bridge got the better of former All Blacks team-mate McKenzie in the air off a Ben Donaldson bomb, with the ball dislodging backwards in the tackle for Burey to coast in.

Just before halftime the Chiefs had the lead back when it went through the hands and Carter gave a nice back-door pass for Jacomb to swerve and speed away from Bridge on a 45m run to the line.

The visitors had a further chance to extend their lead after the siren, with Jacobson making a strong break on halfway and the backs kicking into gear, only for Roe to dart through by the ruck and have his back-flick ball not find its target for the supporting Jacomb.

And so, after a half where the Chiefs had enjoyed 63 per cent possession and 57 per cent territory, and won the metres count 314-129, the defenders beaten count 15-2, the linebreaks count 8-2, and made just 61 tackles to 126, Gibbes would surely have been a frustrated figure given they held just a 14-7 lead at the break.

That irritation continued in the early stages of the second stanza, with the Force tying things up via lock Williams simply placing the ball over the line on the back of a sustained forwards attack, and then again a couple of tries going begging when an Emoni Narawa offload couldn't find Jacomb, and Carter then freakishly had the ball banged out of his grasp by halfback Henry Robertson when he was diving under the crossbar.

Both times they were under advantage, though, and eventually the Chiefs did have their third try, when Taukei'aho drove over on the back of a powerful lineout maul that had the backs joining in.

The Force were hardly done, though, and it was another spill by McKenzie in the air that invited them back onto the attack.

While Boshier got back to save the day in-goal from a dangerous Darby Lancaster kick, they then lost Ollie Norris to a yellow card for offside on the line.

But it was Ratima who came up with the big play, with the Force spreading right from their scrum and the All Black halfback showing the strength to hold up Burey to force a maul turnover. And from there, the hosts never returned to threaten again.