SRAu Round 4: Force v Rebels

[Kiap]

Time to disinfect the plague

Friday 5.05 PM AWST










Saturday 5.15 PM AWST

Brumbies

1. Scott Sio
2. Folau Fainga'a
3. Allan Alaalatoa (c)
4. Darcy Swain
5. Nick Frost
6. Rob Valetini
7. Will Miller
8. Pete Samu

9. Joe Powell
10. Bayley Kuenzle
11. Tom Wright
12. Irae Simone
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Solomone Kata
15. Tom Banks

REPLACEMENTS

16. Connal McInerney
17. James Slipper
18. Tom Ross
19. Tom Cusack
20. Lachlan McCaffrey
21. Issak Fines
22. Mack Hansen
23. Andy Muirhead


Reds

1. Dane Zander
2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa
3. Taniela Tupou
4. Angus Blyth
5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto
6. Angus Scott-Young
7. Liam Wright
8. Harry Wilson
9. Scott Malolua
10. James O'Connor
11. Filipo Daugunu
12. Hamish Stewart
13. Hunter Paisami
14. Chris Feauai-Sautia
15. Jock Campbell

Reserves

16. Alex Mafi
17. Feao Fotuaika
18. Jack Straker
19. Ryan Smith
20. Fraser McReight
21. Tate McDermott
22. Bryce Hegarty
23. Jordan Petaia

[Jules]

Never wanted them to win so much in all my years of being a fan!!

[SNOB]

There are few f those Rebs I would dearly love to see back with us, even after we smash them tomorrow evening.
I’ll be there to witness the carnage! (I hope)

[GIGS20]

I like that team,

Godwin in the midfield will be a big help, interesting to see Kahui at 12, I guess Sambo wants somebody to keep Meakes busy while Kyle towels Kellaway up.

tough luck for Dom, who Tess was saying is carrying a niggle, but it brings Pekka back into the squad. I'm sure there'll be some extra passion on the field as a result of that. I don't rate the Plague's scrum anywhere near as much as the Brums or Reds, so we should be OK.

Stitch is back and that is M.A.S.S.I.V.E. I think his cool head and direction of play will be huge and we can certainly do with his post kicking.

It remains to be seen whether it was a rough call to put Lace to the bench in order to keep Marcel on the field, I know Marcel is the ultimate enthusiastic team player, but Lace hasn't really done anything wrong and I think the backline changes were made to address some weaknesses in the midfield that were exposed last week. We'll see how well it goes I guess.

Force to beat OldForce by a couple of tries.

[chiraag]

This is a huge game! Hope our performance (or lack thereof) last week has really fired us up for it.

Really great to see Prior back - that'll help a hell of a lot. I'd probably rather see Abel on the bench than Frisby given performances so far as well.
Is Wagner injured, because he has looked great so far? If he was starting, I would've given us the edge in the scrum, but without him it'll likely be relatively even.

Not a huge fan of Marcel on the wing. Perhaps Brad has let in a few too many 50-22 kicks and is paying the price for that. Would've preferred to see Kyle at 12 and Kahui at 13 also as I think those are better positions for both of them. Kyle used to kill it for us at 12 and then became largely ineffective when Foley kept playing him at 13 from memory and we could definitely use Kahui's smarts for defending the 13 channel.

But overall it's a pretty good looking team.

Very interesting to see Philip on the bench and no Haylett-Petty's for the Rebel scum...

Force by 6!

[jargan83]

Fuck the Rebels.

I'll curse that team until the day I die.

[shasta]

Good to see Pek ready to go at last. Scrum was towelled up when KBomb left last week. Holmes impact is missed a lot. Anyone know if Joost is injured? Would have thought his form and versatility makes him ideal bench cover at least.
Want a win so bad this week its got me a little edgy already.

[Chopper1]

Fuck the Rebels.

I'll curse that team until the day I die.

I'm with you Jargs...We have to win this one.

[Perth Girl]

What has happened to the HP's.?

[wholetruth]

I do like that first bit

Western Force keeping lid on emotions as they prepare to face Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby showdown
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Thu, 30 July 2020 1:24PM

It has taken 1121 days for the Super Rugby grudge match Western Force’s Sea of Blue fans have been waiting for — the chance to inflict some misery on Melbourne Rebels.

The Rebels are huge favourites heading into Friday’s clash at Leichhardt Oval, having spent the last three years in Super Rugby. But if games are won on passion and emotion the Force can buck the odds.

The Force won the last Super clash 31-22 in July 2017 only for Rugby Australia to bring down their guillotine two months later despite a $70 million offer from billionaire Andrew Forrest to keep the club alive.

The Rebels swept up Force players — there are eight in the match day squad — and staff including current coach Dave Wessels as Forrest began plotting a Force comeback in Global Rapid Rugby.

Now, with both GRR and the old edition of Super Rugby cancelled by the coronavirus crisis, the clubs come face to face in the new Australian version of the Super competition.

Force coach Tim Sampson, who has rebuilt the side understands the depth of fan feeling but has urged his players to keep emotions under wraps.

“Understandably, what the fans and members went through, they have every right to feel this way,” Sampson said.

“It means a lot to people back home. For our fans, we’ve got to get a win.

Force coach Tim Sampson.
Force coach Tim Sampson. Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images
“We’ve just got to concentrate on what we can control. If we do come up with a win we’ll enjoy the spoils afterwards.”

Former All Blacks second-rower Jeremy Thrush has played in plenty of crunch matches in his career.

“We all know the history. It is big for our club. We touched on that and put it to one side. It will probably resurface a little bit before the game,” Thrush said.

“There’s always emotion. There’s been emotion for the last three games coming back into this competition.”

Sampson has boosted his centre firepower with 2011 World Cup-winning All Black Richard Kahui and former Force and Wallaby Kyle Godwin starting together for the first time.

“We want to see something different through the midfield. They area are a bit of a calming influence,” Sampson said.

“Playing behind our forward pack, which has been impressive, hopefully they can get a lot more ball in their hands and open this game up.

“Richard can play quite direct with ball in hand, but he’s got some lovely skills, soft hands, his vision is really good in terms of putting guys away.

“Kyle outside him is a big strong body and hits really good lines but he’s got lovely hands as well.”

[Alison]

Lace didn’t have a great game last week.
Wagner has a hamstring niggle unfortunately. I think he has been a standout, especially given that he is so young.
Not sure about Brache. I personally prefer Taefu in the centres. That said, he didn’t play at his usual best last week. He will be great from the bench.
Like Jargs, I hate the Rebels and hope that the Force give them a big dusting up (of the non-fist variety).

[FORCEGRR]

Lace didn’t have a great game last week.
Wagner has a hamstring niggle unfortunately. I think he has been a standout, especially given that he is so young.
Not sure about Brache. I personally prefer Taefu in the centres. That said, he didn’t play at his usual best last week. He will be great from the bench.
Like Jargs, I hate the Rebels and hope that the Force give them a big dusting up (of the non-fist variety).

I wonder if the Force can win against their old side?

[Alison]

I wonder if the Force can win against their old side?

If karma has anything to do with it, they will!

[The InnFORCEr]

If karma has anything to do with it, they will!

They still sponsor us

[GIGS20]

If karma has anything to do with it, they will!

They still sponsor us

and more importantly were they ever directly responsible for us winning a game?

Not complaining, just asking for evidence