WA junior Tyrrell to become Super 14 first
Home-grown hooker Ryan Tyrrell will get his Western Force Super 14 starting debut in the Australian derby against the Queensland Reds on Sunday.
And the Force have pulled another surprise by calling up young Sydney flanker and Australian sevens specialist Jono Jenkins for the clash in Brisbane.
In other moves, James O'Connor will play at inside centre, making way for new signing David Hill at fly-half while Mark Bartholomeusz's problems continue.
The utility back, who suffered a neck injury on the eve of the Force season opener against the Brumbies and returned against the Chiefs two games later, did not train yesterday.
If the 32-year-old fails a fitness test, he is likely to be replaced by Australian U-20s full-back Dane Haylett-Petty.
Tyrrell, 26, will be the first West Australian to have come through the ranks of local rugby to make a Super 14 run-on side.
The 113kg front-rower, who was converted from a loose forward by Force coaching staff, has played with the Rockingham Rugby Union Club since he was a youngster.
He will join his best mate, prop Kieran Longbottom, as the second player from the club to play for the Force.
Longbottom made his debut as a reserve against the Chiefs at Subiaco in 2008, made two more appearances from the bench that year and a further two as a reserve last year.
Tyrrell will replace Pek Cowan, a specialist loosehead prop who was first moved into the No.2 jumper by Wallabies coach Robbie Deans on the northern hemisphere tour last year and then this season by Force coach John Mitchell.
In making the switch, Mitchell will be hoping for an improvement at the line-out where Cowan has been struggling with his throwing. Jenkins is a left-field bolter who will start on the bench at Suncorp Stadium.
The 23-year-old loose-forward has joined the Force from Sydney University on a four-game short-term contract as cover for injured back-rowers David Pocock and Richard Brown.
He only arrived in Perth a couple of days ago and was drafted straight into the Force squad.
The 186cm and 98kg flanker played for the Australian Schoolboys in 2004 and Australian U-19s a year later before making the Australian sevens side in 2009.
His brother Ed, a winger with Sydney University, was also selected and the pair are the first twins to represent Australia at a World Cup Sevens competition.
He was in the Sydney University 2008 premiership winning first grade side when he was their forward of the year and played with two other Force recruits, centre Mitch Inman and flanker Ben McCalman, at the club.
Force captain Nathan Sharpe described the Reds match as "massive" in terms of the Force season.
He and O'Connor will be targeted by Sharpe's old side after Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie said they were the "key guys".
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