No sign of Force's new All Black
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Western Force coach Tim Sampson has named an unchanged starting XV and made one change amongst the reserves for Friday’s Super Rugby AU clash with the Reds at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Lock Ollie Atkins, who returned to Perth in June, has been included on the bench in place of Johan Bardoul. Australian-born Atkins joined the Force from English club Exeter where he spent the past four seasons and was part of the squad that reached four successive Premiership finals.
The two-metre tall lock made two appearances for the Force in the 2012 Super Rugby season before moving to Edinburgh. He also represented Scotland A in 2014.
Sampson has kept faith with the players who did duty during last week’s 14-23 loss against the Waratahs and will be looking for a strong performance from his team against the Reds.
Meanwhile, new recruit All Black Richard Kahui has not been named in the matchday 23 this week.
The Force made a strong start last week and held a comfortable 14-7 lead at half-time. However, they faded in the final quarter and allowed the Waratahs back into the game.
The Perth team has a proud record against the Reds and will be looking to build on the many positives from last week as they look for their first Super Rugby AU victory.
Both Sampson and captain Ian Prior are “excited” to be returning to Queensland for the hotly anticipated match-up.
“Suncorp is a fantastic stadium to play at,” Prior said. “It’ll be special to play in front of family and friends again; I can’t wait to get out there.”
“We have fond memories of Brisbane and Queensland rugby, so to go there and get a win over the Reds would certainly be a nice feeling, it adds a little bit of extra motivation,” Sampson noted.
The skipper is expecting a fierce encounter on Friday.
“They’re coached by Brad Thorn who prides himself on physicality and energy. They’ve got a good group of young players that have been developing nicely, so it’ll be a challenge, but one we’re certainly looking forward to,” Prior added.
Western Force: 15 Jack McGregor, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Nick Jooste, 11 Brad Lacey, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Ian Prior (captain), 8 Brynard Stander, 7 Tevin Ferris, 6 Henry Stowers, 5 Fergus Lee-Warner, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Feleti Kaitu’u, 1 Angus Wagner.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Ollie Callen, 21 Jacob Abel, 22 Henry Taefu, 23 Kyle Godwin.
Date: Friday, July 17
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 19.05 (09.05 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant referees: Damon Murphy, Jordan Way
TMO: Brett Cronan
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