The Western Force team to play the Sharks on Saturday has been named.Coach Richard Graham has made just one change to the match 22 with Wallaby prop Matt Dunning coming on to the bench in place of Kieran Longbottom.
Willie Ripia is still suffering from a foot injury, so James O’Connor continues in the flyhalf role which sets up a likely mouthwatering duel with fellow 20 year old, Pat Lambie. A stand out in the Force team is the all-Wallaby back row which is headlined by Aussie player of the year, David Pocock. Locks Nathan Sharpe and Ben McCalman both played for the Wallabies last year although the latter is more recognised as a looseforward.
The backline looks a bit lighter than recent years with players like Matt Giteau, Scott Staniforth, Drew Mitchell and Ryan Cross all having moved on from the Perth franchise in recent years.
Another interesting thing from this match is that Glen Jackson, the former Chiefs and Saracens flyhalf has been named as a touch judge. While this is not his first super rugby touch duty, it is nevertheless interesting to see a former player taking up the whistle or rather in this case the flag.
Western Force:
15. Cameron Shepherd
14. Nick Cummins
13. Mitch Inman
12. Gene Fairbanks
11. David Smith
10. James O’Connor
9. Brett Sheehan
8. Richard Brown
7. David Pocock
6. Matt Hodgson
5. Nathan Sharpe
4. Ben McCalman
3. Tim Fairbrother
2. Ben Whittaker
1. Pek Cowan
Replacements:
16. Nathan Charles
17. Matt Dunning
18. Sam Wykes
19. Tevita Metuisela
20. James Stannard
21. Alfie Mafi
22. Rory Sidey
Date: Saturday, March 5
Venue: nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 19.05 (11.05 GMT)
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Andrew Lees (Australia)
TMO: Julian Pritchard (Australia)
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Go Sharks!!
We should win this.
Going to be tough but I think our men should pul it through.
The 2 wunder kids up against each other should be exciting to see.
Sharks win this and they tie with the Bulls for overseas victories.
Not a bad team and fresh coming off the bye…
But still Sharks should be too good for them.
geez, their loosies is whats troubling me…
@rekinek (Comment 4) : i hope so…
@VanWilder (Comment 5) : I agree.
Actually from 4-15 they are a pretty good side on paper.
I’ve always liked Cummins – not sure why he doesn’t have a Wallaby cap.
My boss is a big cheetah. He says the sharks has the best team in the super 15 and if we don’t win it this year we never will! Haha
@VanWilder (Comment 5) : Their loosies are good, but not as good as ours
@csb (Comment 3) : I think that record is for overall wins by SA teams over Aussie teams, quite a random record IMO. I think if we check, the Sharks will have a lot more overseas wins than the Bulls.
@rhineshark (Comment 8) : jip, its just that ive got a bad feeling about this one. i think its more a thing that there`s no easy games in this comp anymore. even the lions could win a game this year (
– for you greg…)
WIFE: “What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?”
HUSBAND: “Definitely not!
WIFE: “Why not? Don’t you like being married?”
HUSBAND: “Of course I do.”
WIFE: “Then why wouldn’t you remarry?”
HUSBAND: “Okay, okay, I’d get married again.”
WIFE: “You would?”
HUSBAND: ….?
WIFE: “Would you live in our house?”
HUSBAND: “Sure, it’s a great house.”
WIFE: “Would you sleep with her in our bed?”
HUSBAND: “Where else would we sleep?”
WIFE: “Would you let her drive my car?”
HUSBAND: “Probably, it is almost new.”
WIFE: “Would you replace my pictures with hers?”
HUSBAND: “That would seem like the proper thing to do.”
WIFE: “Would you give her my jewellery?”
HUSBAND: “No, I’m sure she’d want her own.”
WIFE: “Would she wear my shoes?”
HUSBAND: “No, she’s size 6.”
WIFE: — silence –
HUSBAND: “SHIT.”
@VanWilder (Comment 10) : Don’t worry – we will starve them of ball and force them into mistakes just like wev’e been doing ever since we started winning after those first 5 losses in last year’s Super Rugby comp.
I reckon we’ve found our game, that every player is confident in how it is played and that it will take a pretty good effort from any side this year to beat us.