Powerful Force awaits the Reds
Western Force Coach John Mitchell has named a strong starting XV for his team's final Super 14 pre-season clash, with the Reds at Members Equity Stadium, Perth, on Thursday.
Western Force Coach John Mitchell has named a strong starting XV for his team's final Super 14 pre-season clash, with the Reds at Members Equity Stadium, Perth, on Thursday.
Among the new inclusions for the Force is inside centre Scott Staniforth, who returns to action for the first time since injuring his shoulder during the Wallabies' World Cup campaign in France last year.
Lock David Pusey and back row forward Scott Fava also return to the line-up after sitting out the team's opening trial defeat to the Crusaders in Melbourne last Saturday with minor injury complaints.
While fielding a strong lineup for his team's final pre-season hit out, Mitchell insisted he has not yet settled on his preferred starting XV for the Super 14 season opener – against the Sharks in Durban on February 15.
“It's our final pre-season match so we needed to look at a few more guys in the run on team prior to naming our squad to fly to South Africa,” said Mitchell.
“We are still a way off settling on our lineup for the opening match against the Sharks, and at the moment it's about building our depth as a group,” he added.
“Just about everyone in the squad will have played decent minutes [in the pre-season] after Thursday's match.”
Mitchell said Thursday's trail would give his side a well-rounded preparation leading into the start of the competition proper.
“We're fortunate enough to have matches against teams from each country to start our campaign. We played the Crusaders [NZ] and we'll also play an Aussie team [[the Reds], before opening the competition against the Sharks in South Africa,” he said.
“Plus we're growing our game under the new ELVs [Experimental Law Variations] and looking for what will work best for us on the field.”
Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau (vice-captain), 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 David Pusey, 3 AJ Whalley, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements (from): Luke Holmes, Troy Takiari, Pek Cowan, Sitaleki Timani, Scott Fardy, Matt Hodgson, Sam Wykes, James Stannard, Scott Daruda, Josh Tatupu, Dane Haylett-Petty, James O'Connor, Keiran Longbottom, Lachlan MacKay.
Date: Thursday, 7 February
Venue: Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 19.05 (10.05 GMT)
Referee: James Leckie
Touch judges: Sean Popperwell, Matt O'Brien