Force unchanged for Highlanders
The Western Force has named an unchanged line-up to face the Highlanders at NIB Stadium on Saturday.
The Force will run out the identical side that faced the Sharks at NIB Stadium last week, making it the third consecutive match that the Force has retained the same 22 players within their match day squad.
Saturday’s match will mark the 50th Super Rugby appearance for No.8 Ben McCalman, making him the 10th player to achieve the milestone in the history of the club. The 25-year-old, who made his debut for the Force in the first round of the 2010 Super Rugby season, follows in the footsteps of lock Sam Wykes, who has been the other player to reach their half-century this season.
Head Coach Michael Foley says the Western Force has continued to build a solid foundation for the long-term development of the side.
"Last weekend was one of our better first halves of the season," he said.
Foley added: "While I’m enormously proud of the character this team has shown and developed over recent months, our challenge is to achieve a more ruthless approach to finishing opportunities.
"We need to sustain the physicality and urgency we displayed in the opening 20 minutes last weekend, against a dangerous Highlanders side.
"Saturday represents an important occasion for Ben as he brings up his 50th match for the club. He’s been a consistent performer for the Force over the past four seasons, and we’d like to ensure that we put in a performance befitting such a milestone," he mentioned.
Western Force: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Patrick Dellit, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Matt Hodgson (captain), 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Heath Tessmann, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Rory Walton, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Junior Rasolea, 22 Sam Norton-Knight.
Date: Saturday, May 25
Venue: nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 17.40 (21.40 NZ time; 09.40 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: Ian Smith (Australia), Michael Hogan (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
