Force lose Staniforth
The Western Force were dealt a cruel blow on the eve of their clash with the Lions in Johannesburg, with Wallaby star Scott Staniforth withdrawing from the Round Three clash with a knee ligament strain.
The Western Force were dealt a cruel blow on the eve of their clash with the Lions in Johannesburg, with Wallaby star Scott Staniforth withdrawing from the Round Three clash with a knee ligament strain.
The 30-year-old utility back was ruled out by medical staff after failing to recover from a minor ligament strain suffered during last week's victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Staniforth's withdrawal provides 22-year-old Scott Daruda with another opportunity to show off his skill at inside centre, while Josh Tatupu has again been added to the replacement bench.
Tatupu will wear the number 22 jersey, while Lachlan MacKay will suit up in number 21.
The Force conclude their three-week South African tour against the Lions in and a win will see the Force return to Perth with two victories despite a tumultuous start.
The Lions were thrashed by the Blues last weekend and the Force's one-point win over the Cheetahs should give them confidence to get over the line, but coach John Mitchell is wary after the two previous meetings between the teams.
“I don't focus on the outcome or how many wins we should get, but just take each opposition as they come and see what we need to do to win. We expect the Lions to be very physical after last week and direct,” Mitchell told Sportal.
“They beat us at home last year and scored in the last minute to force a draw the year before, so we treat them with lots of respect.”
Despite the narrow win over the Cheetahs last week, the Force dominated possession and should have won comfortably.
“The game could have gone either way, but we persevered for the longest and we probably deserved to win that game,” said Mitchell.
“The amount of possession we had and the number of times we breached their defence and didn't score is a concern, but it's nicer to have that problem than not create any chances. Hopefully can rectify why we aren't getting to score more tries.”
The Matt Henjak-Haig Sare incident and subsequent sacking and suspension each received was an obvious disruption to the Force's start to the season.
But Mitchell has been happy with the squad's reaction to it and a two-win return from the tour will be a superb result.
“We have focused on what is best for the team and we have to uphold the trademarks that are important to our club,” he said.
“We haven't got away from those things since we left. It's just a problem between those two; it has nothing to do with the team. We have moved on and as a result people have tightened up their standards.”
As for the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs), Mitchell believes everyone should take a deep breath and see how they develop, but he would like to see the tackle area cleaned up.
“I like the law changes. Everyone has been a little bit impatient of where they are heading, but the only part that concerns me is in the tackle area,” he said.
“There is still too much slow ball there and we expected the product to be quicker there. If we can clean that up we will get an even better product and I'm sure over time people will adapt and become better at it.”
Western Force (revised): 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Scott Daruda, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau , 9 James Stannard, 8 Tamaiti Horua, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Luke Holmes, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 AJ Whalley, 18 Sam Wykes, 19 Richard Brown, 20 David Pocock, 21 Lachlan MacKay, 22 Josh Tatupu .