The Western Force hung on with only 13 men on the field for the last 10 minutes to beat the Highlanders 31-29 in Super rugby yesterday.
The Force had two men, including former Wallabies No. 8 Ben McCalman, in the sin-bin in the dying minutes of the match, but were able to resist a late Highlanders’ surge to post a four-try, bonus point win.
The victory followed last week’s 32-7 win over the Melbourne Rebels, giving the Perth-based Force their first back-to-back wins since April 2011.
Replacement flyhalf Hayden Parker scored a try for the Highlanders in the final minute, but missed a wide-angled conversion that would have given the Dunedin-based side a draw.
The Force have now won six of their eight games against the Highlanders since their admission to Super rugby in 2006.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes ended an eight-match losing streak with a dominant 60-27 win over the Cheetahs in Wellington, while the ACT Brumbies beat the New South Wales Waratahs 28-23 in Canberra.
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