Referees:
Match : Force v Lions
Date : Saturday 29 April
Venue : nib Stadium, Perth
Kick Off local: 19:55
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant Ref 1:Jamie Nutbrown
Assistant Ref 2:Amy Perrett
TMO : Damien Mitchelmore
Printable View
Referees:
Match : Force v Lions
Date : Saturday 29 April
Venue : nib Stadium, Perth
Kick Off local: 19:55
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant Ref 1:Jamie Nutbrown
Assistant Ref 2:Amy Perrett
TMO : Damien Mitchelmore
In b4 a comment about the Hoff...
Wish they would give Amy Perret a go with the whistle.
Nobody gets that so quickly in super rugby. She might be good, but to advance her faster than a boy of the same quality would only give the naysayers an actual point to make, I think it far better to have her follow the same pathway and meet the same standards as everybody else.
Hoff was dropped for his horror performance in the Tahs/Kings game.
She already exceeds Hoffmans refereeing capacity (IMHO). Probably better than Bryant also. If they get given the whistle regularly (and they do) then there would be no harm in giving her a go. The refereeing this year has been shambolic.
Cooper's probably the next in the line and James Leckie is still hanging around and possibly ahead of Amy Perrett in seniority, too. That's not to say that either Cooper or Leckie are better, but you can't bring refs through too quickly or you run the risk of destroying their authority/confidence with a bad game (cf The Hoff!)
There's a fair few younger refs coming through; Fraser and Nutbrown are both only about Hodgo's age, as are Anselmi who we had for the Reds game and Kubo who we had for the Blues. There are a few older refs (Pollock, Jackson, Joubert), although Jackson is only 41, and Joubert only 39 (he's been reffing for 15 years, though!)
Interestingly, although he's listed as part of the ARU National Refs panel I've seen Damian Mitchelmore's name come up as TMO several times this year, but never as a ref or assistant. I wonder if he's decided to go down that route (when was the last time you saw George Ayoub on the field?)
I'd like to see the younger refs get a lot of field time in the NRC, as it isn't just about the players. The senior guys should be watching and helping from the sideline. Give the best of the young refs the semis, then the old heads get the final.
Talking of Joubert....
Ran into him at the Singapore 7s - he was gorgeous 😍❤️❤️
Without putting the knockers on them, am feeling quietly confident in the Force this Saturday. They have won the last 5 games against the Lions and even though this year the Lions have been playing so well and we have got so many out injured, the Force have a lot to play for and will be at home with our support. Even with the injuries, I still like the look of replacement players (if they hopefully sorted out the bloody lineout this week!) and there's never any lack of effort. Believe it or not Grub Growden has tipped us, whether that's a kiss of death I don't know, and when they win Sat we won't be able to shove it up him! LOL!
Imho, the lions are a bit like the chiefs, but not as practiced at it.
If we had come though last week injury free I'd be a lot more confident, but I think the same formula will be required and they've practiced and came close against the masters, time to see whether we can knock off the apprentices
Due to injuries a number of surprise selections:
2017 Vodafone Super Rugby – Round Ten
Road Safety Western Force v Lions
Force Field (nib Stadium), Perth
Saturday, 29 April 2017
Kick-off: 7:55PM AWST
Road Safety Western Force Team
1. Pek Cowan
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
3. Tetera Faulkner
4. Lewis Carmichael
5. Ross Haylett-Petty
6. Brynard Stander
7. Matt Hodgson (C)
8. Isi Naisarani
9. Ian Prior
10. Luke Burton
11. Alex Newsome
12. Bill Meakes
13. Curtis Rona
14. James Verity-Amm*
15. Marcel Brache
16. Heath Tessmann (VC)
17. Ben Daley
18. Shambeckler Vui
19. Onehunga Havilli
20. Richard Hardwick
21. Mitch Short**
22. Jono Lance
23. Peter Grant
*Denotes Super Rugby Debut
**Potential Super Rugby Debut