Rugby-We can Force our way into the playoffs, says Cowan

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE, July 9 (Reuters) - Western Force have worked hard to cast off their reputations as perennial Super Rugby strugglers but it will all be in vain if they blow their playoffs chance against the ACT Brumbies on Friday, according to Wallabies' prop Pek Cowan. Having once mulled a career in professional golf, the New Zealand-born Cowan is well aware how easy a good approach can be squandered, and in meeting last year's finalists at their Canberra fortress, the Force might be said to be on the 18th green, facing a tricky downhill putt to break into a playoff. "It's massive," Cowan told Reuters of the last game of the regular season, a virtual knockout match for both sides, who are perched on 40 points with the Brumbies sixth and Force seventh. "If we start looking at the bigger picture before we win this game, it'll be a huge mistake. "We're definitely looking forward to the opportunity, the fairytale is very far from being complete and if we win there's still plenty of work to be done." Holding fort in a windswept outpost of global rugby and forever battling to retain their top players the Perth-based side have never been so close in their eight seasons in the southern hemisphere championship. Cowan has been along for the whole journey down the long road to credibility, which has meant far more heart-break than ecstasy for team mates and fans. Long troubling the best sides in the competition and sometimes beating them, the Force have not wanted for heart but have always struggled for consistency. Two crushing losses to open the season against the competition-leading New South Wales Waratahs and the Brumbies suggested another year of toil, but the Michael Foley-coached side responded with a franchise record five-match winning streak that sent fans into a frenzy and set up a bid for a maiden playoffs campaign. "It's been awesome," said the 28-year-old Cowan, who was born and raised in the Hutt Valley near Wellington before moving to Australia as a young teenager. "We've ticked a lot of boxes this season and passed a lot of milestones. It's been unreal and quite humbling. "The main thing is just to keep our heads (on Friday) and not to let the occasion get to us. Just to respond when things get tough out on the field. "We've had games where we've come close (at Canberra Stadium), where we've won and where we've struggled down there. "We've definitely got the capacity to win away from home which has given us a lot of confidence." As a teenager, Cowan's golfing prowess earned him a scholarship at a local club in Sydney's northern beaches, but his rugby shot him into Australia's schoolboys teams. Ironically, it was a New Zealander in former Australia coach Robbie Deans who gave him his first shot for the Wallabies in 2009 in a Melbourne match against Italy. Though used sparingly, and exiled internationally for three years from mid-2011, coach Ewen McKenzie recalled Cowan into the squad for the last month's 3-0 whitewash of France. Cowan is determined to dig his heels in for next year's World Cup after missing out on playing the global showpiece in the country of his birth in 2011. "Massively, you're able to represent Australia, that's basically what you strive for and that's the pinnacle of the sport," he said. "The ultimate goal is to say that not only you've competed but you've also tasted some success at the World Cup." (Editing by Greg Stutchbury)