Sharpe ready to flex his muscles

NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian January 23, 2010, 12:10 pm

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Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe is expected to make his comeback from injury in tonight's trial against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Sharpe missed the Wallabies spring tour of Japan and Europe with a shoulder injury that required surgery and had expected to make his return in the second warm-up match against the Sharks on Tuesday.
He will get further game time in next week's match.
Most players are expected to get at least 80 minutes under their belts over the two games.
Force coach John Mitchell has not revealed his starting side but it is understood only two players, fly-half Andre Pretorius and winger Haig Sare, who has a slight Achilles strain, will not be taking the field.
Prop Pek Cowan was a late withdrawal from the tour after a sustaining a slight knee strain in training before the side left for South Africa.
As many as 11 players could make their Force debut tonight, including an entire front row: props Matt Dunning, Tim Fairbrother and Nic Henderson and Rockingham hooker Ryan Tyrrell.
Teenage scrum-half Mark Swanepoel will make his first appearance in the unusual position out on the wing along with experienced back Mark Bartholomeusz.
Stormers captain Schalk Burger will not face the Force after an upper leg injury he picked up in training last week flared again.
The Stormers' two big pre-season signings, Springboks Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie, are in the line-up along with fly-half Peter Grant, who was a Force target before they signed Pretorius.


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