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Groin injury sidelines Hilgendorf
By Bret Harris
February 05, 2007 WESTERN FORCE five-eighth James Hilgendorf has travelled to South Africa with the squad but is unlikely to play against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Hilgendorf strained his groin in Force's disappointing 8-7 loss to the Highlanders at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Friday night. He scored a good try and was playing well before he left the field in the 35th minute.
Force looked a lot better in attack when Hilgendorf was on the field.
The Highlanders' defence was watching inside centre Matt Giteau very closely and that gave the five-eighth room to move.
Giteau moved from inside centre to five-eighth to replace Hilgendorf and is almost certain to start at No.10 against the Stormers.
While Giteau tried hard when moved into the playmaking role, he lacked support and options in attack. It may not be the only change to the star-studded Force backline, which was nullified by the Highlanders' rushing defence.
If Giteau starts at five-eighth, winger Scott Staniforth would probably play inside centre, which was where he ended up against the Highlanders.
With Staniforth moving to centre, Force would play a more direct game than if they had the Hilgendorf/Giteau inside back combination. Force also has the option of starting Junior Pelesasa at inside centre, but he was not even used off the bench last Friday, which indicates that is unlikely.
But the biggest question facing Force coach John Mitchell is what to do with star recruit Drew Mitchell.
One of the reasons Mitchell left Queensland was to play in his preferred full back position.
But Mitchell had an unhappy game against the Highlanders, making seven unforced errors, dropping high balls, putting down passes and missing tackles.
It would be no surprise to see Mitchell move to the left wing with Cameron Shepherd restored to full back, where he played well for Force last year.
Mitchell may also consider playing the experienced Angus Scott at tight-head prop in place of Troy Takiari against the strong-scrummaging South Africans.
He may also look at playing a genuine openside flanker, such as David Pocock or Matt Hodgson, and moving Richard Brown to blindside flanker.
The Force squandered a golden opportunity to secure its first home win against the weakened Highlanders, who were playing without New Zealand players Nick Evans, Anton Oliver and Carl Hayman.
On a scorching hot night, Force played into the hands of the Highlanders, who knew their limitations, defended aggressively and waited for the West Australians to make mistakes.