Western Force Squad Announced for Hurricanes Clash

[Darren]

Emirates Western Force will debut two of their young guns in the starting XV with Mitch Inman and Ben McCalman set to tackle the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night.

Inman will start at outside centre after Ryan Cross was declared unfit following a shoulder injury sustained in the match against the Brumbies.

McCalman joins a new look back row as Coach John Mitchell looks to re-shape his pack following injuries to flanker David Pocock and Number 8 Richard Brown.

"Ben has been very impressive during pre-season and in the minutes that he has had during trial phase and competition. He's got a really good future and this will just be another opportunity for him to present his case as a loose forward," Coach John Mitchell said.

"He will keep getting better and the experience that he had against the Stormers and Sharks, and the few minutes against the Brumbies will hold him in good stead going into this match."

Matt Hodgson wears the no. 7 jersey for the first time since the 27-17 win over the Blues in March of 2008, with Sam Wykes shifting to Number 8.

It will be the second time Wykes has started in the backrow, with the impressive forward having played blindside flanker on debut for the Force in February 2008 against the Cheetahs.

A change in the front row will see Tim Fairbrother start at tighthead prop against the club he played for 58 times, with Matt Dunning shifting to the loosehead side and Nic Henderson reverting to the bench. The un-capped Ryan Tyrrell replaces Ben Whittaker on the bench as the alternate hooker.

Lock Tom Hockings wins a starting role in the second row alongside captain Nathan Sharpe, with Richard Stanford and Luke Jones providing cover for the second row and back row.

The skipper will play his 200th ‘First Class’ game when he leads his side into battle. Sharpe, who has 79 Test caps for the Wallabies, will take part in his 121st Super Rugby game this weekend. He played 70 times for the Reds, and last week became the first Australian to play 50 or more times for two clubs when he ran on against the Brumbies.

The backline has had one change with Inman joining Josh Tatupu in the centres while Brett Sheehan and Sam Harris will again team up in the playmaker positions.

The back three of Haig Sare, Dane Haylett-Petty and James O’Connor remain, and will be looking for the tryline after the team went without a five-pointer in week one.

Chris O’Young, Stefano Hunt and Joelin Rapana will start on the bench.

Tyrrell, Jones, Hunt and Rapana would make their Super 14 debuts if used as substitutes.

If all four were to play, it would take the total of club debutants in 2010 to eleven in two weeks. Only four players did the same during the entire 2009 season.

"It's been a bit tricky on the whiteboard the last few days looking at situations, but we have a plan and will be committed to it," Mitchell said.

"We'll give it a good shake.

"The disappointing thing from the Brumbies match was that we didn’t get through a lot of attack and didn’t throw a lot at them. That's where we'd like to get a lot better this week.

"We were hugely impressed by the commitment and length of time that we stayed in the match to possibly have a chance to win considering the circumstances.

"We'd really like to have a real dig and throw a lot more at the Hurricanes in attack this weekend."

2010 INVESTEC BANK SUPER 14 WEEK TWO
EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V HURRICANES
Saturday, 20 February, 2010
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 2.35pm AWST

1. Matt Dunning
2. Pek Cowan
3. Tim Fairbrother
4. Tom Hockings
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. Ben McCalman
7. Matt Hodgson
8. Sam Wykes
9. Brett Sheehan
10. Sam Harris
11. Haig Sare
12. Josh Tatupu
13. Mitch Inman
14. Dane Haylett-Petty
15. James O’Connor

Reserves

16. Ryan Tyrrell
17. Nic Henderson
18. Richard Stanford
19. Luke Jones
20. Chris O’Young
21. Stefano Hunt
22. Joelin Rapana

Unavailable for selection: Andre Pretorius (hamstring, season), David Pocock (finger, 6 weeks), Richard Brown (shoulder, 6 weeks), Cameron Shepherd (thigh, 6 weeks), Nick Cummins (foot, 3-4 weeks), Mark Bartholomeusz (neck, 1-2 weeks), Ryan Cross (shoulder).

[sandgroperrugby]

Add another name to the injury list (Ryan Cross)

Well I guess the young blokes will have a chance to show just how much potential they have got and gain valuable experience. Go the Force

Gee the bench is young and a bit light weight but hey what else can they do.

[zimeric]

11 debutants in 2 weeks! that must be a record

[palitu]

its amusing, the pack has gotten the biggest restructure, only Mitch Inman wasn't in the back line last week...

[zimeric]

Wykes at 8 is a good option as he has developed into a better ball runner compared to his first few games.. Looking forward to seeing Hunt get some game time.. still think Tatupu is a weak link at 12, his cover defence is suspect..
as an aside.
looked at the fox fantasy stats and noted that Haig was one of the best outside backs last week - stats wise.. he worked really hard in Defence. hope he has the same commitment this week.

[Burgs]

I know what you are driving at palitu, but to be fair, the second half tight forwards performed better than the first half and they have lost two critical players, where the backs played equally as well (yes, tongue in cheek) both halves but have lost their last senior outside back and is now basically a case of last man standing.

Considering the "outs" and the remaining Bench, this is almost a predictable selection in the Backs and is probably our only realistic chance against the style and size opposition awaiting in Wellington.

Would be interested to know if Whittaker is fully fit or taking the chance to rest having gone into R1 carrying an injury. If fit it tells a story as to the rest of the season.

It was always going to be a tough match and I think now they will be judged by fair minded people more on their character than the scoreboard, even in victory.

[BeeJay]

"The disappointing thing from the Brumbies match was that we didn’t get through a lot of attack and didn’t throw a lot at them. That's where we'd like to get a lot better this week.

"We were hugely impressed by the commitment and length of time that we stayed in the match to possibly have a chance to win considering the circumstances.

"We'd really like to have a real dig and throw a lot more at the Hurricanes in attack this weekend."


If that's the case why not tinker with the backs as well as the forwards? Why not give Hunt a starting run?

[Thequeerone]

I thought JOC was at 10 - glad to see Harris back - his confidence must have taken a battering after last week -

[AndyS]

Surprised at Wykes and McCalman being 8 and 6 respectively rather than the other way around, but otherwise much as I would expect. Really going to require 10/12 to step up big time...

[KenyaQuin]

Need to get my money back from my local juju doctor..or maybe not.

Zim, agree with you there on Josh..he looked shaky on defence on Friday which was, in my opinion, consistent with his performance last year.

After the initial bewilderment, I'm getting pretty excited about watching these new players/combinations take on the 'Canes. Hope Stefano gets a decent run (15-20 minutes) just to gauge the potential.

[Burgs]

If it is any consolation, I believe we have our first pick Tight Five starting!

[BDAVEY]

GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE YOUNG GUYS. Good luck to all of u

[Woody]

Well that's blown my stuff about Cross needing to be the back leader, kinda hard from the stand. Harris WILL be better for last week's shocker, if he is better, Tatupu will be better (Nonu and co he'll need to be). Sare needs to be the stand up guy and JOC needs another blinder. If Sharpy works hard on the ball and the players all is not lost.

As the crow flys I'm about 250km South of the Cake Tin and it's blowing a dirty old wet Southerly here. If it hangs in for another 48 hours (likely given this summer) a wet Cake Tin with a shitty wind will be a good leveler. The Cane forwards like dry tracks and fancy stuff (don't like the cold steel up 'em, as my grandfather used to say) where a committed Force could meet them and possibly pip them.
John Mitchell, love or hate him, must be at his wits end. Nice to see his positive spin.

Many of the come lately posters have barked about giving the young guys a crack, well this is it.

Carn the Force

[shasta]

(don't like the cold steel up 'em, as my grandfather used to say)

Your grandfather was Corporal Jones?

Let's hope you a good weather man, Woody.

[MI5_Dog]

time to step up
Comes the time comes the man
etc etc