Force need to follow through

Western Force head Coach Michael Foley said while his side continues to show improvement, converting pressure into points remains a focus.

Foley was responding to his team's narrow 23-19 loss to the Waratahs in a tense Australian derby in Sydney on Sunday. Despite enjoying the majority of possession, the Force could not make that advantage count on the scoreboard.

The former Waratahs coach said that while it was frustrating to lose a close game, he was encouraged by style of rugby his team played.

"It's always disappointing when you don't get the result but there were a lot of good things out there and I thought we controlled the game for long periods of time," he said.

Foley said that it was clear where his side need to improve in order to start converting narrow losses into wins.

"Some of the things we did with the ball, in particular instances from midfield scrums and how we used the ball that was kicked to us, are a couple of things to work on," he said.

He praised the defensive effort from his team and added that they now need to start finishing off their opportunities better.

"That's the third game in a row where we’ve only had one try scored against us, the previous two games we had two tries, so our defence is getting better; we're certainly playing the 80 minutes it's just how we use the ball that's hurting us at times.

"There was a load of character out there; it's a very disappointed change room and we've felt that a few times this year, but we've got to keep going. We can't tighten up, we've got to keep doing the things we're doing in attack," said Foley.