Fijian Drua v Western Force Saturday 17 May 2025

[Tazzmania]

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Lautoka on a Sat'dy arvo, eh. Sounds like fun.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Still going for the Poolman experience I see.

Leahy is gonna look great in Brumbies kit soon.

 

[Tazzmania]

Western Force team list

Starting XV; Ryan Coxon, Nic Dolly, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams (c), Darcy Swain, Will Harris, Kane Koteka, Reed Prinsep; Henry Robertson, Alex Harford, Mac Grealy, Reesjan Pasitoa, Sio Tomkinson, Bayley Kuenzle, Kurtley Beale

Reserves; Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Atu Moli, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Sam Carter, Titi Nofoagatotoa, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Ben Donaldson, George Poolman

Unavailable list
Nick Champion de Crespigny (head injury protocols)
Vaiolini Ekuasi (shoulder)
Lopeti Faifua (calf)
Harry Johnson-Holmes (knee)
Harry Hoopert (knee)
Divad Palu (shoulder)
Marley Pearce (shoulder)
Dylan Pietsch (quad)
Matt Proctor (shoulder)
Carlo Tizzano (pectoral)

 

[Dctarget]

What's the word on Harford? Why bench Donaldson?

Happy to see Pasiota back. That is a big backline.

 

[Wilson]

What's the word on Harford? Why bench Donaldson?

Happy to see Pasiota back. That is a big backline.

Harford is out of the NPC and came in on injury cover. I assume they've benched Donaldson (and rested others) to stay fresh for the tahs next week, but it's wild that they also skipped over Burey, Pasitoa, Kuenzle and Stewart before going to a ring in 10.

 

[Tazzmania]

Stewart has had a huge workload this year and understable that he is being given some recovery time. Pasitoa is now seen as a centre and Kuenzle as a centre / wing.

I suspect that Leon McDonald has something to do with bringing in Harford as he is with Auckland in the NPC after being with Canterbury previously.

Miln was the other option, however his cameo for the Force and the times he played on the South African tour if I recall correctly most of the time was at full back.

Burey is hard one to put my finger on, I suspect his tackle success rate of 68% against what will be plenty runners coming at us all day probably counted against him. Also his kick sucess rate (conv +pen) of 5/8 and his average 28 metres per kick metres may have also been the tipping point.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Harford is out of the NPC and came in on injury cover. I assume they've benched Donaldson (and rested others) to stay fresh for the tahs next week, but it's wild that they also skipped over Burey, Pasitoa, Kuenzle and Stewart before going to a ring in 10.

I get it and also the fact they are still trying to win this but if you want to pump the Tahs at home and get some rest in your guys like Donaldson leave him at home and not stick him on the flights to Fiji from Perth.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

The path to beating the Drua in Fiji has been shown. It is early impact from an experienced bench.

 

[Tazzmania]

Looks like Harford is auditioning for a longer term role this weekend.

Cron confident Australian eligible flyhalf Harford can handle Fijian heat

Western Force coach Simon Cron believes debutant Alex Harford can make a big difference as they prepare to face the Fijian Drua in Lautoka.

Cron opted for the former Auckland and Canterbury playmaker to start against the Drua, with the club needing a win to stay in contention for the finals.

READ MORE

 

[todd4]

It's getting pretty sloppy.

 

[Derpus]

The Force have absolutely no variation in attack. The person who catches the first pass is 100% the person who will make contact.

 

[Derpus]

This is grot. Force making an error every second touch.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Surprising turn of pace by Ben Donaldson to go stride for stride for 50 metres with the Fijian flyer down the sideline

 

[todd4]

Force have been issued a bingo card of mistakes and they're making sure they are ticking them all off.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

What the hell happened to Pasitoa? Last time I saw him he was a fairly rangy 1st 5, now he's at 2nd 5 and about 20 kg heavier and can't seem to do shit

 

[todd4]

Next week is going to be a real cripple fight. Force v Tahs

 

[Yoda]

Surprising turn of pace by Ben Donaldson to go stride for stride for 50 metres with the Fijian flyer down the sideline

He needs to run the ball more. Does have a turn of speed. Still think he’s our best attacking 10. Too much dropped ball by the Force though today to let the Drua back in and brought the crowd into it.

 

[Hogan]

Serious questions have to be asked of Cron who left three experienced Wallabies at home and one on the bench for this do or die game. Why did they need resting with only one game to go? Makes absolutely no sense at all. If the Force had any chance against the Drua, they needed their best players on the field.

 

[rugbyAU]

Serious questions have to be asked of Cron who left three experienced Wallabies at home and one on the bench for this do or die game. Why did they need resting with only one game to go? Makes absolutely no sense at all. If the Force had any chance against the Drua, they needed their best players on the field.

Cron hasn't taken this team forward:

First season - 5 wins, 9 losses
Second season - 4 wins, 10 losses
Third season - 4 wins, 9 losses

Look at Moana now or the Drua in their 2nd/3rd year