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Wallabies Nic White and Ben Donaldson set to earn first Force caps
By Finn Morton
Wallabies halves Nic White and Ben Donaldson will both debut for the Western Force on Friday night when the Perth-based side takes on the travelling Hurricanes at HBF Park.
White and Donaldson, who both played for Australia at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France, are among the five off-season recruits who will earn their first Force caps in the season-opener.
Former Maori All Blacks lock Tom Franklin, as well as Will Harris and magical wing Harry Potter, are the other three in line to represent the club for the first time in a competitive match.
Wallabies lock Izack Rodda will partner Super Rugby winner Franklin in the second row in what is another major boost for the men from the west.
Marley Peace, Tom Horton and Argentina’s Santiago Medrano make up the front row, and Michael Wells, Carlo Tizzano and Will Harris will form the loose forward trio.
Club captain Jeremy Williams is unavailable for this match due to head injury protocols so Wells and halfback Nic White will lead the side together.
Partnering White in the halves is Donaldson, with Hamish Stewart and Sam Spink linking up in the midfield outside the Wallabies pair. The outside backs are Chase Tiatia, Harry Potter and Max Burey.
Former Crusader Ben Funnell, along with Lopeti Faifua and Tiaan Tauakipulu, are also in lien to debut for the Force off the bench.
The match will be broadcast live on Stan Sport. It is scheduled to kick-off at 7:00 pm WST on Friday February 23.
Western Force to take on the Hurricanes
- Marley Pearce
- Tom Horton
- Santiago Medrano
- Thomas Franklin
- Izack Rodda
- Michael Wells
- Carlo Tizzano
- Will Harris
- Nic White
- Ben Donaldson
- Chase Tiatia
- Hamish Stewart
- Sam Spink
- Harry Potter
- Max Burey
Reserves
- Ben Funnell
- Charlie Hancock
- Tiaan Tauakipulu
- Lopeti Faifua
- Tim Anstee
- Ollie Callan
- Issak Fines-Leleiwasa
- George Poolman
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After a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
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