Return of the Force: Can the Western Force shock the system in their Super Rugby AU return?

Super Rugby returns to Australia for the first time in four months this weekend in the form of the five-team Super Rugby AU.

Not only will the nation's four Super Rugby franchises - the Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies and Rebels - continue to do battle as they had done prior to the original competition's cancellation, but they will welcome back the Western Force into the fold.

The Perth-based outfit was one of three teams axed from Super Rugby in 2017, but will return to the league - albeit in a domestic format only - for the next three months to decide the best team in Australia.

Heralded as comfortable underdogs, the Force will be eager to prove they can foot it with the big boys of Australian rugby after two seasons of toiling away in both the Global Rapid Rugby and National Rugby Championship tournaments.

They have tasted title-winning success in both competitions, running out champions in both the Asian and Pacific showcase series in Global Rapid Rugby last year, before adding an NRC crown to their winners' board four months later.

Perhaps those accolades indicate that they are ready for a competitive return to Australia's top flight, not that they didn't hold their own in their final Super Rugby campaign three years ago.

Despite their dismissal from the southern hemisphere's premier club tournament, the Force finished second in a lacklustre Australian conference, notching two wins over the Reds and one apiece against the Rebels and Waratahs.

Former All Blacks lock Jeremy Thrush, who has been part of the Force's set-up since moving to Western Australia from Premiership club Gloucester in 2018, sent out a warning to rival sides earlier this week that they could suffer a similar fate should his team be underestimated.

“We’re not here just to be invited to make up numbers so that there’s an extra game on TV,” he said, according to AAP. “We’re here to push ourselves and compete to win.”

A quick glance over the Force's squad adds weight to Trush's statement, as the Tim Sampson-coached side boasts considerable test match experience.

Aside from the 12 caps Thrush earned for New Zealand between 2013 and 2015, the squad also features two ex-Wallabies in the form of prop Greg Holmes and midfielder Kyle Godwin.

The pair have re-located to Perth ahead of Super Rugby AU from the Exeter Chiefs and Connacht, respectively, with Godwin publicly outlining his ambition to add to the sole Wallabies cap he won against France in four years ago.

"My dream of playing for the Wallabies definitely hasn't died for me," Godwin, who played for the Force between 2012 and 2016, said.

"I think it's at the back of every player's mind in Australia to play for your country. It's the pinnacle of your sport, so it will definitely be in the back of my mind."

Elsewhere, journeyman playmaker Jono Lance has returned to his homeland after a three-year spell with Worcester Warriors in England and is set to form an experienced halves combo with captain Ian Prior at halfback.

Manu Samoa trio Henry Stowers, AJ Alatimu and Henry Taefu will join USA Eagles wing Marcel Brache in providing the Force with international class, with all four having played for their nations at last year's World Cup in Japan.

Watch out for electric fullback Jack McGregor, who has shown glimpses of his attacking skill set in Global Rapid Rugby that could be of good use in Super Rugby AU.

The Force will have to wait until round two to make their highly-anticipated start to Super Rugby AU, though, where they will face off against the Waratahs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The hosts will be eager to make amends for their shocking start to the initial Super Rugby competition earlier in the year, where they made the worst start to the league in their history with three consecutive defeats off the bat.

It didn't get much better for Rob Penney's side, who enjoyed just one win from six outings to sit in second-last place at the time of Super Rugby's suspension.

Things won't get much easier for them when they kick-off their Super Rugby AU campaign against the Reds in Brisbane on Friday, as they will be without a raft of their veteran players.

Wallabies trio Karmichael Hunt, Jake Gordon and Tom Robertson will join midfielder Lalakai Foketi in missing the opening match of the tournament through injury, while New South Wales legend Kurtley Beale has left the club early to take up his contract with Racing 92 in France.

That leaves the 2014 Super Rugby champions void of plenty of their regular starters, with incumbent Wallabies captain Michael Hooper the sole survivor of their championship campaign six years ago.

"officially fallen in love" with the 1.95m, 110kg brute, who should continue to blossom alongside Wright and McReight.

Their cause will be aided by the presence of blockbusting Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou and the sizeable Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, while Australian international Brandon Paenga-Amosa will keep jostling with Alex Mafi for the side's starting hooker role.

In the weekend's other clash, the Brumbies will host the Rebels in a match that the home side will likely stand as favourites for.

The Canberra club sat in the lofty position of second place at the time of Super Rugby's pause, winning five games from six in a run that included an impressive 26-14 victory over the Chiefs in Hamilton.

That should come as little surprise given the Brumbies have probably the best-balanced squad in Australia, and will loom as strong title contenders.