Western Force skipper Nathan Sharpe says his side will use Friday's crushing 31-13 loss to the Chiefs as motivation for next Saturday's clash with the Crusaders in New Zealand.

Sharpe admitted the team's pride had been shattered in their four-tries-to-one loss against the Chiefs, which leaves the Force with a 2-2 record ahead of their trip to Christchurch.

"We will bounce back and play well against the Crusaders, I've got no doubt about that," Sharpe said.

"That's going to be a big focus for us.

"I know everyone's stinging from the loss and it's always a good rallying point for teams playing the next week.

"We are just disappointed because we know we can play a lot better than we did against the Chiefs."

The Chiefs set up the win with a dominant first-half performance, running in three tries to take a commanding 21-6 lead at the break.

But it was the Force's lacklustre defence that allowed the Chiefs to dominate on the scoreboard, with missed tackles from the likes of Cameron Shepherd, Ryan Cross, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell gifting the Chiefs tries.

Winger Lelia Masaga, halfback Brendon Leonard and centre Richard Kahui all capitalised on weak Force tackles to cross over.

"We missed some crucial tackles in the first half and you can't do that against a Chiefs side that's prepared to throw the ball," Sharpe said.

"Clearly the guys who missed the tackles can tackle well.

"Hopefully it was just an off night for us.

"The Chiefs are renowned for having one of the most potent backlines in the competition.

"Those guys individually are very good and hard to tackle."

Force coach John Mitchell said he was unsure why his team missed so many crucial tackles.

But the former All Blacks coach was pleased with how his charges fought back in the second half, with Tamaiti Horua's 55th-minute try closing the gap to 21-13.

"We hung tough considering the situation we were in and gave ourselves an opportunity at 21-13," Mitchell said.

"But we just couldn't build enough pressure.

"The end contact delivery was below the standard that was necessary, we need to address that.

"Clearly we'll need to improve (to beat the Crusaders)."

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