COWAN GETS THE TICK FROM SHARPE
Pek Cowan got the tick as hooker from one of the world's best locks on Friday night and Emirates Western Force coach John Mitchell was pleased with the work of all his forwards.
Cowan had a standout 2009 season as the Force's tighthead prop and that led to him being included on the Wallabies Grand Slam Tour, but with the retirement of Tai McIsaac it left an opening and he showed he is capable of stepping into it this Investec Bank Super 14 season.
The game with the Reds at ME Bank Stadium on Friday was Cowan's first this trial match campaign for the Force and did so at hooker, and for someone playing for the first time in the No. 2 jersey he did quite well.
With Matt Dunning, Tim Fairbrother and Nic Henderson looking more than solid in the tighthead and loosehead prop positions, to also have Cowan there in the scrum will also be a terrific advantage for the Force this season.
Mitchell saw no reason not to like Cowan's performance, but deferred to the judgement of captain Nathan Sharpe for the final call.
"The captain sets high standards there, but I think he got the big tick for us," Mitchell said.
Sharpe is one of the best lineout callers and performers in world rugby and has been for some time now as he prepares for his 50th game with the Force against the Brumbies next week, and 199th combined Super Rugby and Test cap.
He had a great relationship with McIsaac, but also was impressed by Cowan's performance and is looking forward to Ben Whittaker and Ryan Tyrrell receiving opportunities this season as well.
"I think he got the tick. For a guy who hasn’t played a great deal of hooker at all, he did very well and he's obviously quite a natural at throwing the ball and will only get better," Sharpe said.
"That's a positive for us and we've got a couple of other guys in Ben Whittaker and Ryan Tyrrell who are really improving their games as well. That will give us good competition in that area the whole year."
The Force dominated the Reds, especially early with possession and territory, to end up winning 31-12 and much of that was down to the work of the entire forward division.
Backrowers Matt Hodgson, David Pocock and Richard Brown were terrific, Sharpe and Sam Wykes did well as locks and then the frontrow also did well. Mitchell liked much of what he saw and with how his team made some adjustments to what happened in the trial matches in Cape Town.
"It was really pleasing the way the forwards went about their work and in the first 30 minutes even when we didn’t have momentum they were very constructive and created momentum for us as a team," Mitchell said.
"I was pleased not so much for the laws, but with the way our discipline improved from South Africa. We certainly went about addressing some areas we experienced in the South African trials so our discipline here went up a cog or two which is pleasing going into the competition."
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