Western Force look to experienced players in bid to end away win drought

CWL is a 6/8 hybrid though, he is in the bruiser (not the cruiser) category of 6 though (the 8 six), like Grace, who was the preferred 8 over CWL until the swapped in his second year at the Crusaders.

When I’m looking at a bruiser 6, they are players the tackle hard and run straight, CWL is in that category, 8s tend to be more athletic/dynamic with the ball. Absolutely a good option for the bench.

Lakai is in the same camp, but he is that athletic/dynamic 8, just with the slightly smaller frame of a 7, he has more dominant, explosive carries, but doesn’t do as well on the other side of the ball as CWL.

These are the type of glue players that fill out that squad, it’s likely to be one or the other, and someone like Sotutu far more likely to be selected as the 8.

Personally, I think they will require some injuries before that is required.

He always seemed like a career man out of his depth at this level. With the massive Silverlake liability to pay each financial year, NZR are playing a very different game now.

Like test rugby is a different game to club rugby, taking on expensive money from a private equity investor is a different sport to the amateur one the previous management team were playing.

They need someone with a proven track record in building entities to thrive financially, while somehow halting the decline of domestic rugby. Otherwise, the SL bill will come back to bite them - sooner or later.

Absolutely the issue isn't going away so long as people in the media need content to fill their columns and programmes every week! There's only so many things to talk about.

Remember, NH countries like England and Ireland have the same policy. Ireland only became consistent winners after they brought their players home and England are a rising force.

Other countries have only moved away from the policy because lots of young or in their prime first choice players were leaving. That's not happening here.

With sabbaticals to Europe and Japan, I don't see how the policy is holding us back. Our main weakness is players leaving the game in their teens but that's less newsworthy.

Hope they can find someone who’s capable of having a conversation, whos a bit more intelligent than the man on the street he bumps into though. Robinson might have been a smart guy, who worked hard and made some good choices, but it’s like having Scott Barrett or Ardie Savea as your captain, they’re not quite Richie McCaw (together they’ve got everything though!).

That said, the scores were reversed last time, without Love they simply didn’t put the Brumbies under the same pressure.