They were clearly not top sides and it was not a match to wax lyrical about as two winless teams struggled to break their duck.

That said it had a gem which sparkled all the more brightly because of the drabness of its background, the diamond in the grey dirt, the pearl against an oyster's grey.

Mark Ranby scored the try which was a gem in any match, more memorable in this because there was so little that was memorable.

The Force started well enough before their enthusiastic 29,239 crowd but it was not long before the Chiefs were cracking the whip. It was soon clear that they would win but it was matter of how loudly they would be able to crack the whip. They did not crack it too loudly - except for the thunder of that try.

The Chiefs struggled with clean ball from line-outs - and they had plenty of throws as the Force kicked relentlessly. The Force on the other hand conceded far too many penalties - 16-7, and the scrums, like the line-outs were sloppy.

There was little continuity in the game, the best of it engineered by the Chiefs.

In their early period of ascendancy the Force kicked two penalty goals to lead 6-0 after seven minutes. But then, despite the wayward kicking of Stephen Donald, the Chiefs kicked two to level the score. (In all the Chiefs missed four kicks at goal, none of them overly challenging.)

When Byron Kelleher was off-side Cameron Shepherd kicked his third. 9-6 after 21 minutes. An hour later the Force still had just those nine points.

The Chiefs then scored a super try, not their best, but a good one as they counterattacked from yet another Force kick. They counterattacked from their left, went right and came back left where Sitiveni Sivivatu charged at the line and then dived to ground level surfing over in the corner. 13-9.

When Richard Brown was penalised for being an intrusive receiver, Donald made it 16-9 at half-time.

The best try came after 53 minutes of the match.

The Force won a Chiefs' line-out. Just on the half-way line side of his 10-metre line Brock James kicked high. Sosene Anesi, the Chiefs' right wing, caught the ball just inside his 22 and on the Chiefs right but not a long way to the right. Anesi started running on a slight diagonal. Past four Forcemen he swept. Between his 10-metre line and the half-way line he passed to Sivivatu on his right. The left wing cut back in past Forceman after Forceman. Held, he fed Marty Holah. He was tackled but the ball came back to Kelleher who, in a succession of quick, short passes,  fed Steven Bates who fed Donald who fed Ranby who sped over at the corner and round to the posts.

It was a brilliant moment.

Donald converted. 23-9.

Shortly afterwards Kelleher countered on a kick doing his dodgem car impersonation as he ricocheted off tacklers.

The last score of the half came when the Chiefs won a line-out going left. Anesi came in off the right and cut the Force defence. Falling as he was tackled, he got a long pass to Mils Muliaina on his left and the classy fullback scored.

There was a black attack by the Chiefs that required the TMO's advice that no try had been scored and the Force had their best bit of handling when they ran from near their own 22.

Man of the Match: For the Force Nathan Sharpe was outstanding in all things a lock should be doing, including throwing his weight into tackles but it is a side that lacks the pressure points to make a real difference. For the Chiefs Byron Kelleher was industrious as he always is, Marty Holah was competitive at the breakdowns, Mark Ranby was neat and accurate and Sitiveni Sivivatu was exciting but our Man of the Match is the classy wing who made two exciting tries - Sosene Anesi. In doing so he lifted a match out of mediocrity.

The scorers:

For the Western Force:
Pens: Shepherd 3

For the Chiefs:
Tries: Sivivatu, Ranby, Muliaina
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 3

Teams:

Western Force: 15 James Hilgendorf, 14 Cameron Shepherd, 13 Scott Staniforth, 12 Scott Daruda, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Brock James, 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Scott Fava, 7 Richard Brown, 6 Luke Doherty, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 David Pusey, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 David Te Moana, 18 John Welborn, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Haig Sare, 22 Tajhon Mailata.

Chiefs: 15.Mils Muliaina, 14.Sosene Anesi, 13.Mark Ranby, 12.Sam Tuitupou, 11.Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10.Stephen Donald, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Kristian Ormsby, 5 Jono Gibbes (captain), 4 Sean Hohneck, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Simms Davison.
Replacements: 16 Tom Willis, 17 Deacon Manu, 18 Bernie Upton, 19 Steven Bates, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Lelia Masaga.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Matt Goddard (Australia)
Television match official: Julian Pritchard (Australia)
Assessor: Ian Scotney or Hailes (Australia)