Sunday sees two two Aussie teams sitting in the bottom few at the bottom of the ladder. You’d think that both are having poor seasons and you’d be almost right, but looks are slightly deceiving in this case.
The Rebels look to be a team that might be heading in the right direction. They’ve had a couple of good performances in a row. Admittedly they lost to the Bulls, but they gave a great account of themselves. Against the Crusaders, on the other hand, they came up with possibly a franchise defining win. The Force, unfortunately, appear to be going in the opposite direction, coming off a pretty terrible result against the Sharks and with little to show for their trip to the Republic.
This game, then, will be an interesting test of the character and mettle of both sides. The questions will be numerous and mainly revolve around two things: can the Rebels keep the theme going and not mentally drift off after such a great win and can the Force raise themselves above the level of mediocre to snatch a win?
The Rebels play a pretty enterprising brand of footy and judging by the scores of the last couple of weeks, it’s pretty entertaining when they get going. Kurtley Beale, more through necessity than anything else, has been thrust into the position of chief playmaker rather than ghosting into the game from fullback. To his credit, though, he has really grasped the opportunity and handled the situation with considerable aplomb. The rest of the Rebels backs have similarly done a job, especially when you consider a couple of key players aren’t there at the moment or even for good in Cipriani’s case. This season has also seen the emergence of some exciting young forward talent, in the form of guys like Hugh Pyle. Their set pieces are still a bit of a worry, but there is clearly potential there and with the signing of Scott Higginbotham things look even brighter for the future.
The Force are looking the complete opposite this weekend, without a huge amount to look forward to, especially after being given a hiding last week. The forwards can be counted on to front up and scrap hard, as they do every week. They’ll attempt to disrupt the Rebels set piece and put pressure on at the breakdown. Nothing will change there. Cutting off the flow of quick ball will be pretty critical, as the sooner Beale gets the ball in his hands and going forward, the greater the damage he does. The Force will need to keep the ball out of their own half and use an astute kicking game, as the Rebels have pace out wide. They’ve selected Ben Seymour to run on at 10 and I think that’s a good idea. There’s nothing to be lost by seeing if he’s up to the job of starting in a playmaking position on a more full time basis.
For the Rebels, it will be all about transferring the ball from the set piece to the flanks as rapidly as possible, as that is where their attacking weapons are. If they can keep their scrum up and the lineout functioning efficiently, they’ll have enough ball to be a constant threat. The back row, led by the every reliable and warrior-like Gareth Delve, are very serviceable, but will have their hands full against the Force combination. If they break even or better in this battle then they will have done well. With that said, the mob they played last week are no mugs in that department either.
Teams
Western Force: 15 David Harvey, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Ben Seymour, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock (capt), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan
Replacements: 16 Salesi Manu, 17 Elvis Taione, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Lachlan McCaffrey, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Winston Stanley, 22 Alfie Mafi.
Rebels: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Lachlan Mitchell, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve (capt), 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Tim Davidson, 5 Hugh Pyle, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Jono Owen, 18 Al Campbell, 19 Hugh Perrett, 20 Nic Stirzaker, 21 Stirling Mortlock, 22 James Hilgendorf.
Details
Date: Sunday, 20 May
Venue: Nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 14:30 WST
Referee: Marius Jonker
Game Breaker
The battle of the back row, as alluded to above, will be the deciding factor I think. If the Force can disrupt the breakdown on Rebels possession, they may succeed in frustrating them in attack and maybe create opportunities for themselves at the same time. On the flip side, if the Rebels can secure clean second and third phase ball and plenty of it, they’ll have too much in attack.
Fearless Prediction
I don’t think this will be a try fest, but the weather is shaping up to be good and who doesn’t love an afternoon game in the sunshine. I reckon the Rebels are on a bit of a roll and the Force are a pretty dispirited bunch, so I’m going with the boys from Melbourne by 5.
