Force vs B&I Lions - Wed. 5 Jun

[Grandmaster Flash]

Force team according to Georgina Robinson's twitter:

Force team 15-9: Sam Christie, Dane Haylett-Petty, Ed Stubbs, Chris Tuatara-Morrison, Corey Brown, Sam Norton-Knight, Brett Sheehan.

Richard Brown, Matt Hodgson, Angus Cottrell, Phoenix Battye, Toby Lynn, Salesi Ma'afu, James Hilterbrand, Salesi Manu.

PS I've heard CTM's name used on the forum a lot lately. What's his story?

 

[brokendown]

ex league player--hasn't made the 22 this year--maybe not rated by management-rumour that his defence is sus

 

[Blue]

An opportunity for rugby missed in the West because of a coache's personal agenda.

 

[barbarian]

An opportunity for rugby missed in the West because of a coache's personal agenda.

Think that's a bit much. The coach's priority should still be Super Rugby, and with a game this week it would be foolish to play a full strength XV in a game that meant nothing to your competition prospects.

The Force still have a lot to play for in Super Rugby, I agree with what Foley has done. I would obviously love to see the best Force XV out there, but totally understand why it can't be fielded.
.

 

[FiveStarStu]

Welp, I'll definitely be in the red tomorrow, watching an absolute pounding.

A real shame the Force couldn't come to the party on this. Their biggest stage of the year and they're focused on some nothing game against the Tahs.

Not like this only comes around every 12 years or anything.

 

[Blue]

The Force still have a lot to play for in Super Rugby,

.

What exactly would that be?

 

[GaffaCHinO]

When you look at it its not that bad of a team.

Its not a good team but still not that bad

 

[KevinO]

Can I change my Super Bru pick, only did the Lions by 65 when it should be 95 looking at that line up.

 

[qwerty51]

You guys can bullshit all you want with 'Lions once a lifetime' but the Super rugby is a proper competition that gives you competition points, this is an exhibition game.

 

[barbarian]

What exactly would that be?

They need to convince their local fans that they are building something positive and have what it takes to compete in 2014. Good showings against the Tahs and Brumbies are vital in showing that.

Ultimately good performances there will mean more than being beaten by 20 instead of 40 against the Lions.

 

[D-Box]

Official Rugby WA Announcement

2013 British & Irish Lions Tour – Tour Match
Emirates Western Force v British & Irish Lions
Patersons Stadium, Perth
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Kick-off: 6pm
1. Salesi Manu (8 Super Rugby)2. James Hilterbrand (1 Super Rugby)
3. Salesi Ma’afu (72 Super Rugby, 13 Tests)
4. Toby Lynn (61 Super Rugby)
5. Phoenix Battye (11 Super Rugby)
6. Angus Cottrell (15 Super Rugby)
7. Matt Hodgson (c) (95 Super Rugby, 6 Tests)
8. Richard Brown (88 Super Rugby, 23 Tests)9. Brett Sheehan (92 Super Rugby, 6 Tests)10. Sam Norton-Knight (66 Super Rugby, 2 Tests)
11. Corey Brown (Uncapped)
12. Chris Tuatara-Morrison (Uncapped)
13. Ed Stubbs (6 Super Rugby)
14. Dane Haylett-Petty (9 Super Rugby)15. Sam Christie (4 Super Rugby)
Reserves
16. Hugh Roach (Uncapped)
17. Sione Kolo (Uncapped)
18. Tim Metcher (Uncapped)
19. Ben Matwijow (Uncapped)
20. Lachlan McCaffrey (8 Super Rugby)
21. Alby Mathewson (97 Super Rugby, 4 Tests)
22. Nick Haining (Uncapped)
23. Junior Rasolea (10 Super Rugby)
Super Rugby = Super Rugby caps
Tests = international caps

It is good to see one WA player (Nick Haining - Cott) on the bench but if you are going to bring in a bunch of uncapped players surely it would have been better to look further to the WA comp. Would give it a bit more of a provincial feel, and hey the WA amateurs put 10 points of the Lions last time round. Only 100 or so behind.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

the 3 best young WA players are away with the Aus Under 20's which is a shame for them.

 

[RedsHappy]

Think that's a bit much. The coach's priority should still be Super Rugby, and with a game this week it would be foolish to play a full strength XV in a game that meant nothing to your competition prospects.

The Force still have a lot to play for in Super Rugby, I agree with what Foley has done. I would obviously love to see the best Force XV out there, but totally understand why it can't be fielded.
.

You surely BaaBaa can't be serious with this? Have you studied the Force's S14/15 crowd nos and WARugby $ revenue trajectories since 2006? And the recent loss (currently unreplaced) of Emirates as a deep-pocketed sponsor of the Force?

By many key measures such as these, rugby is in a potentially perilous state of decline in WA.

To not prioritise in terms of team calibre and coaching focus a very high profile and rare BIL match that will by its nature gain vastly more attention (all written media, gate $s, TV, large local BI expat population, etc) than a totally dead rubber S15 game against a severely diluted Tahs team is just commercial and strategic madness if the objective is to save the cause of rugby in WA.

 

[RedsHappy]

You guys can bullshit all you want with 'Lions once a lifetime' but the Super rugby is a proper competition that gives you competition points, this is an exhibition game.

The Force this late in the S15 season cannot even get near the top S15 6, let alone get into it. And this particular match v Tahs is not in truth 'a proper competition'. On Sunday the Force play a highly diluted version of the Tahs so any Force victory will be hollow and largely meaningless to both fans and the general rugby market as everyone will know this to be the case.

 

[qwerty51]

I suppose you like tanking then.

 

[daz]

You surely BaaBaa can't be serious with this? Have you studied the Force's S14/15 crowd nos and WARugby $ revenue trajectories since 2006? And the recent loss (currently unreplaced) of Emirates as a deep-pocketed sponsor of the Force?

By many key measures such as these, rugby is in a potentially perilous state of decline in WA.

To not prioritise in terms of team calibre and coaching focus a very high profile and rare BIL match that will by its nature gain vastly more attention (all written media, gate $s, TV, large local BI expat population, etc) than a totally dead rubber S15 game against a severely diluted Tahs team is just commercial and strategic madness if the objective is to save the cause of rugby in WA.

I think that when you wash away the pro's and con's, history will only show the Force W/L ration in 2013. Considering his employer pays him to win Super Rugby games, I think Foley might like to do all he can to make sure there are as many W's as possible.

I imagine getting off the bottom of the Oz Super Rugby conference ladder is a bit of an enticement as well.

Dead Rubber? Not by a loooong shot.

The B&I Lions tour match is the exhibition game, not a Super Rugby fixture.

 

[barbarian]

You surely BaaBaa can't be serious with this? Have you studied the Force's S14/15 crowd nos and WARugby $ revenue trajectories since 2006? And the recent loss (currently unreplaced) of Emirates as a deep-pocketed sponsor of the Force?

By many key measures such as these, rugby is in a potentially perilous state of decline in WA.

To not prioritise in terms of team calibre and coaching focus a very high profile and rare BIL match that will by its nature gain vastly more attention (all written media, gate $s, TV, large local BI expat population, etc) than a totally dead rubber S15 game against a severely diluted Tahs team is just commercial and strategic madness if the objective is to save the cause of rugby in WA.

But it isn't like a full-strength Force team would stand a chance of beating the Lions.

What possible difference does it make if they lose by 20 (which would be a best case scenario with a full-strength side) or they lose by 50 (the likely result now)?

Either way they are losing, and I can't see how either loss would make any real difference to the Force's long term future.
.

 

[qwerty51]

And if you want anyone to blame, it's SANZAR. I believe the Lions fixtures were known way before the Super rugby fixtures were decided.

 

[FiveStarStu]

You guys can bullshit all you want with 'Lions once a lifetime' but the Super rugby is a proper competition that gives you competition points, this is an exhibition game.

So a chance to come fourth in the Aussie conference instead of fifth outweighs an opportunity afforded once every twelve years to play in front of a sold-out arena full of people just waiting to take up the game.

Yes, the scheduling sucks, but a performance against the Lions would do the franchise a lot more good than one against the Tahs, in my opinion.

 

[qwerty51]

Like Barbarian side it's not as if the Force had a chance with their full strength side anyway is it? You're acting as if they're not even playing the match any more.

 

[Braveheart81]

I can't imagine this would come down entirely to what the coach wanted to do.

You'd think the CEO etc. would have told Foley to go all guns blazing for the Lions game if that's what they wanted him to do. By the look of things it wasn't.

When they review how the season went, I doubt there will be much consideration given to how many points the Lions beat them by. An extra Super Rugby victory would go down well though.