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Longbottom gets into the scrum of things
5th May 2008, 11:00 WST
Kieran Longbottom had a Super 14 debut to remember, tasting life from both sides of the scrum.
The first product of the WA club system to progress directly to the Western Force, Longbottom came off the bench to be unusually used at both loosehead and tighthead prop during his 70 minutes on the field against the Chiefs at Subiaco Oval as injuries to fellow front- rowers took their toll on Saturday night.
The Rockingham strongman was sent into the action after just 10 minutes when starting loosehead Pek Cowan had his thumb ripped from its socket.
The Force scrum held up well against the Waikato side, so much so Longbottom was not fazed when asked to switch to tighthead when Troy Takiari was hurt, with starting hooker Tai McIsaac having to rejoin at loosehead.
“I didn’t feel out of my depth,” he said after a more involved initiation to Super 14 than he would have expected.
“I made sure I did my role at loosehead and when I went to tighthead I got a good hit straight away. I was able to move their side of the scrum around, which felt good.
“What I enjoyed was that you could go really hard at the opposition and try things that would get you penalised in club rugby. In Super 14 the front-rowers are trying all sorts of things to get dominance.”
Longbottom admitted to struggling to adjust to the faster pace of the game.
“I was shattered at half-time,” he said. “We’d done a lot of defending and I was wondering how I’d get through another 40 minutes.”
Coach John Mitchell was impressed with the way the rookie handled the pressure.
“I thought he played well,” Mitchell said. “It’s pleasing to see a home grown player get a chance like this. He went well and that will have given him a lot of self belief.”
DAVE HUGHES
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
Originally Posted by Burgs
