The good news is that finally Bam Pocock and Richard Brown are back; the bad news is that the Force’s main attacking weapon has been relegated to the rear again.
This game could be about the best defence in the Super 14, the 2nd placed Stormers, versus the worst attack in the Super 14, the Western Force.
If that’s the case, what does the coach do about it? He sends their best attacking weapon (James O’Connor) to fullback and their least creative player (Ryan Cross) to inside centre.
Yeah, I’m wondering what this is all about as well? Maybe it’s to force Cross into action at 12 but I can’t see too much attacking brilliance happening with him and partner Mitch Inman, a similar style of player.
The management of JO’C has certainly been a talking point this year. Maybe he’s going to do some more ‘first receiver’ work today?
Last week they really went well with Hill adapting to the pace of the game and Bartholomeusz putting in a top notch effort at fullback. Why wouldn’t you just put Mitch Inman, the new outside centre, onto the wing and maintain a settled side?
For the loss of Cummins, there’s been four positional and selection changes.
The really great news is that Bam Pocock will be returning from injury and teaming up with the best player in the Super 14 competition, fellow flanker Matt Hodgson.
Hodgson has been absolutely outstanding – yes, the best Super 14 player in Australia and this week he’ll be moving to No. 8 to accommodate Pocock.
It’ll be interesting to see these guys working in tandem and with Ben McCalman, who deservedly retains his No. 6 spot.
In another forward change Pek Cowan returns to his normal loosehead prop position.
Richard Brown returns to the side via the bench, perhaps an admission that he’s not quite 100% yet. Tucky Dunning is another splinters with Nathan Charles, the next hooker signee.
With Brett Sheehan still injured Chris O’Young gets another opportunity to impress. This may not actually be a bad thing as his service to David Hill last weekend was exemplary.
Sheehan and O’Young offer different skills at halfback but in this case, if the expansive game is the go, O’Young would probably be the best bet anyway.
For the Stormers, there’s a feeling that these guys are coming in under the radar. However, when you’re 2nd on the ladder something must be going right.
They’ve had a great draw in that they’re coming in off the bye, have had five home games in a row and only one away against the Lions.
They’ve beaten the Hurricanes, Waratahs, Lions, Highlanders but lost at the death to the Brumbies.
Danger man of course is Bryan Habana but he’s not a one-man band with Jaque Fourie, Peter Grant, Ricky Januarie, Andries Bekker and of course captain Schalk Burger as stand-outs.
In fact, they’ve been travelling really well as a team and it’s more likely the ‘lesser lights’ like big Fijian winger Sireli Naqelevuki or eighthman Dwayne Vermeulen who may cause the trouble.
The Force are slowly and surely putting humpty dumpty back together again but in reality have missed the Super 14 boat.
Hopefully they can salvage something from the wreck today and not sink entirely. Recent gutsy efforts provide that hope.
I’d like to pick them today but I think the Stormers will be just that little bit too strong on current form.
Lance says: “Stormers by 15”.
Western Force v Stormers
Force: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Mark Bartholomeusz, 10 David Hill, 9 Chris O’Young, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Ben Whittaker, 1 Pek Cowan. Reserves: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Richard Stanford, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Sam Harris, 22 Haig Sare
Stormers: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Sireli Naqelevuki, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JC Kritzinger. Reserves: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Eusebio Guinazu, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Frikkie Wels
