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Wallabies duo return for Western Force

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

The Western Force’s front-row stocks have received a huge double boost after Wallabies forwards Tom Robertson and Folau Fainga’a were cleared to return for Friday night’s crunch clash with Fijian Drua at HBF Park.

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Hooker Fainga’a has battled an Achilles heel injury all season and hasn’t featured since playing in the round-five loss to the Blues.

Prop Robertson is back after missing two matches with a calf strain.

Their experience and class could prove critical as the Force (3-7) attempt to snap a two-match losing run that has resulted in them tumbling to 11th spot on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder.

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Fijian Drua are four points ahead of the Force in eighth spot, making Friday’s clash a crucial encounter in the race for a top-eight berth.

Force No.8 Rahbni Vosayaco returns to the starting line-up following the birth of his son, with recent signing Isi Naisarani relegated to the bench.

Prop Angus Wagner is back after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Sevens star Max Burey retains his spot at five-eighth in an unchanged backline from the team that lost to the Crusaders 48-13 in Christchurch last week.

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FORCE: Angus Wagner, Folau Fainga’a, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Ryan McCauley, Michael Wells (capt), Carlo Tizzano, Rahboni Vosayaco, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Max Burey, Manasa Mataele, Hamish Stewart, Sam Spink, Zach Kibirige, Chase Tiatia. Res: Tom Horton, Marley Pearce, Siosifa Amone, Felix Kalapu, Tim Anstee, Isi Naisarani, Ian Prior, George Poolman.

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J
JW 20 minutes ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Nice, that’s good to hear, I was worried for the tackler and it increasing concussions overall.


My question is still the same, and the important one though. Where the rate of concussions in Fed 2 high? Of course if there where only three concussions, and they were reduced now to one, then there is no need for the new laws etc.


There are two angles to this discussion, mine above about player welfare, and of course the that which you raise, legal responsibility. More, the legal responsibility we are concerned with is what’s happening now.


WR don’t really know much about CTE I wouldn’t think, whether it happens from innocuous things like heading a ball, or from small knocks or big knocks that don’t heal. Right now they are ensuring the backside is clean by implementing laws to rule out any possibility they didn’t do enough. So once they understand the problem more they may realise some things are overboard.


The other legal responsibility is the one you are talking about in France, the past. Did the LNR and WR know about the severity and frequency of CTE in rugby? That is the question in that debate. If they didn’t know then theres nothing they could have done, so there is no worry. Further, what we may have now is a situation where 90% of those court actions might not happen in future thanks to the new framework we already have around HIA and head contact processes. Your English example is only going to be an issue if future players still continue to receive CTE (as that is obviously bad), as it is now, the players have taken on their own responsibility by ignore advice. No doubt some countries, like France and New Zealand, will lower their tackle height, but as long as the union has done an adequate job in advising of the severity of the problem at least the legal shadow over the community game will have gone.

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