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By Adrian Warren, 18 Feb 2016
Western Force coach Michael Foley will give starts at five-eighth to both Peter Grant and Jono Lance, as his side strive to implement a bolder style of rugby.
Foley has placed plenty of pre-season emphasis on speeding up the Force’s game and playing a more attacking style, which he hopes will deliver more tries to a team that found them hard to come by last season.
Former Springbok Grant and ex-Reds and Waratahs utility back Lance will be key orchestrators of that policy, as the main playmakers of the Perth-based franchise.
Both have spent time at five-eighth during the trials and while Grant is the better known pivot, Foley stressed each would get a chance to start there in the coming Super campaign.
“Sometimes we get caught trying to differentiate who is number one and who is number two, the way I see it is we’ve got two number ones,” Foley told AAP.
“Both of them are going to start games for us and both of them are going to come off the bench.
“It’s interesting because although Pete is seen as a specialist 10, the last time I coached against Pete was with the Force in Cape Town and he played 12 and he ran amok that day and he created a lot of problems for us.
“He has also played a little bit of 12 in that first trial win against the Hurricanes, so I feel very confident about both of those guys at 10,12 or 15.”
One new outside back Foley is excited about is Semisi Masirewa, a 23-year-old Fijian, recruited from New Zealand ITM Cup side Manawatu Turbos.
“Besides great hands and feet he’s got a kicking game, he can drop goals from 60 metres,” Foley said.
“I’m not sure that necessarily will happen in a game, but he’s that sort of talent.”
Foley was impressed with the way former Reds centre Ben Tapuai was making his presence felt at the Force.
“He’s put his hand up to do some work on our defence and lead that area of our game,” Foley said.
“It’s so easy for a new guy to come to a club, and to almost just say `as long as I do my job okay, then I’ve done what I’m paid for.’
“But I see there’s a relationship. A lot more about how he cares for the team rather than just the transaction.”
The Force have yet to play finals, but Foley made it clar they weren’t just looking for a little progress this season.
“We haven’t said `lets make an incremental step forward,’ we’ve tried to make a real radical step forward,” Foley said.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/02/18/398247/
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