Force to give Aukland the Blues!

:flame: The temperature is forecast to rise in Auckland with the scorching pace of Junior Pelesasa included in the selected side. Not expected to be available until March, Junior and the return of Josh Graham is welcome news. Mitchell stated he is narrowing down the options. Players not available O'young, James and Debartolo.
Vitori Buatava to start at scrum half and Henjak to come on in the second half.
This hitout at Eden Park will give the strongest indications yet of the "Force" as a travelling competitor. The crowd will be pretty partisan I should think and as Mitchell says the team is striving for consistency and depth. The isolation should help bond them in purpose so...
I say Go the Force Rrrrraaar :D

A bit more from Sportal.
That's excellent news re Pelesasa as the Outside Centre position was one that was a bit iffy for us coming into the regular season.
Still featuring three apprentice players in Te Moana, O'Connor and Sare which very promising for the season to have more than just the main squad suited to the "big game".
I've also got a gut feel that Josh Graham may turn into one of our '06 success stories.

Pelesasa set for debut

Sportal


Outside centre Junior Pelesasa will make his debut for the Western Force in Auckland on Thursday, when the team plays its third and final trial match.

Pelesasa wasn't expected to play until March after injuring his shoulder while playing club rugby in Brisbane last year.

But he has made a quicker than expected recovery and has training strongly in recent weeks, allowing coach John Mitchell to name Pelesasa in his squad for the match against the Blues.

Inside centre Josh Graham is also set to return to the squad after missing the match against the Canterbury Crusaders. He put in a solid performance in the trial game against the Cheetahs the week before.

Mitchell said he will use the final trial match as a chance to further narrow down his selection options for the club's Super 14 campaign.

"The trials are about learning and getting us to the stage where we are competitive on February 10 for our Super 14 debut against the Brumbies," he said.

"Our challenge against the Blues, as it has been against the Cheetahs and the Crusaders, is to get consistency and develop our depth."

Vitori Buatava will start the match at scrumhalf, while Matt Henjak will come on in the second half.

Western Force
Cameron Shepherd, James Hilgendorf, Scott Staniforth, Tajhon Mailata, Junior Pelesasa, Haig Sare, Josh Graham, Digby Ioane, Lachlan MacKay, Scott Daruda, Vitori Buatava, Matt Henjak, Scott Fava, Tim Davidson, Richard Brown, Matt Hodgson, Luke Doherty, Matt Windle, Nathan Sharpe (c), David Pusey, Pat O'Connor, John Welborn, David Fitter, David Te Moana, Brendan Cannon, Tai McIsaac, Angus Scott, Gareth Hardy