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Emirates Western Force Coach John Mitchell has prepared his squad for what he expects will be a ferocious Blues outfit when the sides clash at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday night.
The Force will look to extend their mid-season revival and record a third consecutive win, after accounting for the Stormers and Highlanders in the past fortnight, and anticipate another tough battle against the Blues who will be determined to rebound from a loss on home soil last weekend.
Saturday night’s match looms as a key encounter for the Blues side who remain in finals contention despite their recent defeat at the hands of the Stormers. The Auckland based side have proven their ability to come back with a vengeance having dismantled the previously unbeaten Bulls at Eden Park following a loss to the Waratahs a week earlier.
“We expect them (the Blues) to be ferocious,” Mitchell said.
“Before that Bulls performance they were labelled inconsistent and that hurt them I think. They came out firing and put the Bulls away, so we’re expecting that kind of onslaught on the weekend.”
The Force have made two changes to their starting XV with Nic Henderson coming in at loosehead prop while promising young hooker Nathan Charles will make his run-on debut for the club after two matches from the pine.
Hard running winger Nick Cummins comes back into the reserves after serving his two match suspension while the remainder of the squad stays the same after the club’s 14 point win over the Highlanders in Queenstown last Saturday.
Charles, who joined the Force three weeks ago as an injury replacement for Ryan Tyrrell, has impressed coaching staff with his accurate throw and strong work ethic to earn an opportunity from the starting whistle.
“Nathan has been extremely impressive in his first two outings off the bench,” said Mitchell.
“He’ll get his chance this week to start for us while Nic Henderson also comes in to the front row after being able to refresh following a huge workload from the start of the season.”
The successful return of experienced performers over the past fortnight including Cameron Shepherd, who scored two tries against the Highlanders, David Pocock and Richard Brown has given the Force added resilience and complemented the corps of young stars coming through the ranks.
“We’ve had some very good performances, stayed tight and got the benefits of giving a lot of youth opportunities when we suffered the run of injuries at the start of the season,” said Mitchell.
“Getting a bit of experience back has brought added confidence into the squad and we’re looking forward to the challenge against the Blues on Saturday.”
2010 Investec Bank Super 14 – Round 10
Blues v Western Force
Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 1.30pm Perth Time
Referee: Keith Brown
Emirates Western Force Squad
1.Nic Henderson
2.Nathan Charles
3.Tim Fairbrother
4.Tom Hockings
5.Nathan Sharpe (c)
6.Matt Hodgson
7.David Pocock
8.Richard Brown
9.Chris O’Young
10.David Hill
11. Cameron Shepherd
12.Ryan Cross
13.Mitch Inman
14. Mark Bartholomeusz
15.James O’Connor
Reserves
16.Ben Whittaker (FR)
17.Matt Dunning (FR)
18. Sam Wykes
19. Ben McCalman
20.Justin Turner
21.Sam Harris
22.Nick Cummins
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