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Wallabies duo head west as Force name squad for 2024
By Finn Morton
After missing out on the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs this year by the barest of margins, the Western Force are looking to take that next step in 2024 after signing some marquee recruits ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Wallabies duo Nic White and Ben Donaldson have both been included in the Force’s initial 36-man squad after committing to deals out west, and they’re joined by former All Blacks prop Atu Moli who has also signed on.
Donaldson was at times a shining light for Australia during a woeful Rugby World Cup campaign, with the playmaker receiving Player of the Match honours are phenomenal tournament debut against Georgia at Stade de France.
Magical wing Harry Potter has also returned to the club following a standout stint with the Leicester Tigers. Backrower Will Harris, hooker Harry Hoopert, lock Lopeti Falfua and Australia U20s centre Henry O’Donnell have also signed on.
“If we build a good program, where players feel like they are getting better at rugby and are supported, then I know we can entice Australian players to come back home,” Cron said in a statement.
“A lot of the core team, who played high minutes this year are back again, which offers essential continuity.
“We’ve made some strategic signings of people we know will add to our team environment. Some experienced players will help with our player mentoring, as well as on-field consistency and decision-making. The coaches, and players, wanted to improve positional competition so we can train at a higher intensity while continuing to drive up training standards and expectations.”
The Western Force open their 2024 Super Rugby Pacific campaign on Friday, 23 February, against the Hurricanes at Perth’s HBF Park.
Western Force squad for Super Rugby Pacific 2024
Siosifa Amone, Timothy Anstee, Max Burey, Oliver Callan, Oliver Cummins, Ben Donaldson, Lopeti Faifua, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Nikolai Foliaki, Charles Hancock, Will Harris, Harry Hoopert, Thomas Horton, Feleti Kaitu’u, Felix Kalapu, Bayley Kuenzle, Santiago Medrano, Atu Moli, Henry O’Donnell, Cambell Parata, Reesjan Pasiota, Marley Pearce, George Poolman, Harry Potter, Ian Prior, Jackson Pugh, Izack Rodda, Papillon Sevele, Samuel Spink, Hamish Stewart, Chase Tiatia, Carlo Tizzano, Angus Wagner, Michael Wells, Nic White, Jeremy Williams.
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Dead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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