In a match-up looking like battle of the opposites, the battered and bruised Reds make their way to the wild west for their last local derby of the regular season (last altogether if the Tahs don’t make finals) as the Force welcome them to Perth. Not sure if it will be the welcome they are looking for as against their fellow countrymen, they now know not to expect any favours, table-wise.
The table-topping Reds are coming off a hard loss to the Brumbies, while the cellar dwellers at the Force will be buoyed by their good win over the Raiders of the lost Clan in Dunedin. While the teams will be coming at this game from different side of the winners’ podium, they will both be dealing with injury-related changes.
The home team is bolstered by the return of James O’Connor and Brett Sheehan who both missed the tour of NZ. JOC moves again, this time back at 15 replacing Cameron Shepard, a position I personally don’t think allows us to see his best, but he may make the best of it if he is able to inject himself into play with more creativity. Brett Sheehan takes back his number 9 Jersey, pushing Mark Swanepoel to the bench.The other major change sees Nick Cummins move back to the starting lineup after a strong cameo on the weekend. Alfie Mafi takes his bench position.
Up front, Ben McCalman and Richard Brown swap the 8 and 19 jerseys with the Big Dog on the bench. It is a sign of the depth the Force enjoys in the back row when the incumbent Wallaby 8 is on the bench. The other change is another bench swap, with Fairbrother dropping to the bench and Bouncer Dunning starting at tight-head.
The Reds lost a couple of players in their brutal encounter with the Brumbies, with Digby Ioane, Ben Lucas and Anthony Faingaa joining the already full triage ward at Ballymore. They are somewhat bolstered by the return of Rod Davies from injury and the availability of Liam Gill after his brief Italian visit. Link has a challenge putting a team together that will be as cohesive as he would like, considering how settled the team had been prior to the horror injury run.
In order to build what he believes to be a competitive team he has had to employ some lateral thinking, this he has done with the Liam Gill making his run on debut in his sixth start for the Reds. Liam gets plenty of wraps north of the Tweed, so it will be good to see how he handles a start.
In the backs 20-year-old Jono Lance gets a start, earning his Super Rugby debut at fullback by replacing Ben Lucas. Will Chambers moves to 13 in a direct swap for Anthony Faingaa. Will has not started since failing to capitalise on the strides made last year, with a couple of error-prone games early in the season. He has looked good coming from the bench since and has worked hard to earn back his starting place. It will be up to him to prove he still has form and with 13 a position lacking depth in the national team, no doubt Robbie Deans will be watching too..
Key Match-up: This is going to come down to the forwards. The class of the Force back row is undeniable and with Beau missing there is potential for a frailty in the Reds pack. However, it is going to be great to see the much-hyped Padawan Gill against master Pocock. In the locks the Force have an ageless Nathan Sharpe and the impressive Sam Wykes against the Reds’ quality pairing of James Horwill and Rob Simmons. No line-out will be safe.
Tip: This is going to be tight.
Not enough? OK, their last game was determined by 1 point (way back in Round 1) and I can’t see it being to much different this time. The Force were impressive against the Highlanders, a win which comes off the back of a few disappointing losses, and I feel the tide may have turned a little there. The Reds have been the giants of the comp so far and that is reflected by their position on the ladder, but their injury run would have to have unsettled the team while the replacements find the groove. On balance though, I am going to tip the Reds by 3.
Force Team: 1. Kieran Longbottom, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Matt Dunning, 4. Sam Wykes, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 6. Matt Hodgson, 7. David Pocock, 8. Richard Brown, 9. Brett Sheehan, 10. James Stannard, 11. David Smith, 12. Rory Sidey, 13. Patrick Dellit, 14. Nick Cummins, 15. James O’Connor Reserves: 16. Ben Whittaker, 17. Tim Fairbrother, 18. Tom Hockings, 19. Ben McCalman, 20. Mark Swanepoel, 21. Mitch Inman, 22. Alfie Mafi
Reds Team: 1. Ben Daley, 2. Saia Faingaa, 3. James Slipper, 4. Rob Simmons, 5. James Horwill, 6. Scott Higginbotham, 7. Liam Gill, 8. Radike Samo, 9. Will Genia, 10. Quade Cooper, 11. Rod Davies, 12. Ben Tapuai, 13. Will Chambers, 14. Luke Morahan, 15. Jono Lance Reserves: 16. James Hanson, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19. Jake Schatz, 20. Ben Coridas, 21. Ian Prior, 22. Dom Shipperley
