Force sign another South African
Former Varsity Cup-winning defence consultant David Wessels has joined the Western Force from the Brumbies for the 2013 Super Rugby season.
Wessels, who was involved with the Stormers and last year held the same position with the Brumbies, which saw the Canberra-based outfit concede the fewest points in the Australian conference and the second least in the Super Rugby competition.
Wessels was previously involved at the Ikeys (University of Cape Town) in the Varsity Cup, with his biggest role as an assistant coach to Kevin Foote when they beat Tuks (University of Pretoria), 26-16 in the competition Final in 2011.
He joined World Cup-winning former Springbok coach Jake White at the Brumbies last year.
Force head coach Michael Foley said Wessels' appointment continues the Perth-based franchise's focus on quality recruitment.
"When we were assembling our coaching staff, we placed an emphasis on engaging experts with a record in getting results – and this certainly extends to David," he said.
"David has produced excellent results through his work with the Stormers and Brumbies," Foley added.
"The Stormers have been regarded as one of the benchmark defensive units over a number of years while the Brumbies' success last season was on the back of a very tight defence.
"While we want to be playing dynamic and up-tempo rugby with the ball, we need to have complete faith in our defensive systems, which we believe is something David can provide."
Wessels joins Foley on an Western Force coaching panel that already features former European Championship-winning Bath coach Steve Meehan (backs/attack coach), two-time Rugby World Cup-winning strategist Phillip Fowler (strategist) and former Wallaby front row forward and incumbent forwards coach, Nick Stiles.
Wessels joined the Western Force for his first session with the squad on Monday..
