Stormers (SA)

Emirates Western Force

The Emirates Western Force's top-four aspirations have been dealt a major blow following a shock 32-16 loss to the Stormers at Subiaco Oval on Friday night.

The Stormers slammed home four tries to two to secure the bonus-point win and cap off a fantastic four-game Australasian tour, which featured wins over the Reds, Chiefs and Force.

It was an error-riddled performance from the Force, whose failure to deal with the high ball brought about their downfall.

The Force entered the match in white-hot form following Trans-Tasman victories over the Blues and Highlanders.

However, in front of 24,225 fans, the Force imploded on their home turf on a night when captain Nathan Sharpe played his 100th Super rugby match.

The Stormers (18 points) jump to sixth on the table, while the Force (19 points) drop to fifth following their second home loss of the season.

It took just 48 seconds for the Stormers to draw first blood when a neat kick from fullback Conrad Jantjes caught the Force defence napping.

Stormers winger Tonderai Chavhanga did the rest, sprinting forward to collect the loose ball before crossing over for the easiest of tries.

Peter Grant nailed the conversion to make it 7-0, but Matt Giteau soon had the Force on the board when his one-two pass with Ryan Cross broke the Stormers' defence open.

With the line in sight, Giteau passed to Drew Mitchell, who did well to touch the ball down in the corner as he was flung into touch, with the television match official awarding the try.

Giteau missed the conversion but made amends shortly after, slotting home a penalty following a high tackle from Stormers flanker Schalk Burger to put the Force ahead 8-7 in the 19th minute.

But a succession of errors from the Force thereafter saw the Stormers rocket back into the lead.

Scott Fava dropped a high ball to allow the Stormers a scrum 15m out from the line.

And from the set piece, Grant found a gap in the Force defence, shaking off a Giteau tackle before releasing Chavhanga for his second try of the night.

Things soon went from bad to worse for the Force, with both Mitchell and Cameron Shepherd dropping high balls to gift the Stormers good field position.

Grant gave the visitors a 17-8 lead with a penalty in the 36th minute, but the Stormers were reduced to 14 men when Burger's ill-discipline finally caught up with him.

The flanker was shown a yellow card three minutes before half-time for a dangerous tackle on Giteau and, although Giteau nailed the corresponding penalty, the Stormers headed to the break with a handy 20-11 advantage when Grant converted a penalty on the siren.

The Force continued to look shaky after the re-start, with Scott Staniforth forced to pull off a magnificent try-saving tackle on Burger in the 50th minute to keep the home side in the contest.

Grant's accuracy deserted him in the second half as the flyhalf missed three penalty chances, but victory was secured for the visitors when Jean De Villiers intercepted a sloppy pass from substitute Lachlan MacKay and ran 75m for the Stormers' third try of the night.

And the visitors secured the bonus point when prop Brok Harris bustled over 10 minutes from time, before Cross pegged on back for the home side in the 79th minute.

Emirates Western Force 16

Tries: Mitchell 1, Cross 1

Conversions: Nil

Penalties: Giteau 2

Stormers 32

Tries: Chavhanga 2, De Villiers 1, Harris 1

Conversions: Grant 3

Penalties: Grant 2

@Subiaco Oval, Perth; 28/03/08. Crowd: 24,225