Western Force vulnerable as it takes a breather
It is a dangerous thing to be the first Australian side to have the bye in the year in which a Super rugby expansion franchise is building its player roster from scratch, but the Western Force still is relieved to have next weekend off.
The injury-ravaged Force is yet to open its account in this year's Super 14, with not even a bonus point to show for its efforts over the opening three rounds of the tournament.
Normally, captain Nathan Sharpe would prefer a late-season bye to give his team the chance to freshen up before making a push for the play-offs but this year has started off in nightmarish fashion and he is hoping the week's rest will act as a circuit-breaker.
"It just gives us a chance to regroup and to work towards getting some consistency," said Sharpe yesterday following his side's 37-19 loss to a rampaging Chiefs outfit at Members Equity Stadium on Saturday night.
It also gives coach John Mitchell five training sessions over the next fortnight to familiarise his new playmaker, former All Blacks five-eighth David Hill, with the Force game plan and his new teammates before the next match, against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium on March 14.
With Hill clearly earmarked for the 10 jersey, the hot question now is whether James O'Connor, who played at five-eighth against the Chiefs, will revert to his regular position at fullback or instead move to inside centre, allowing the Force to again use two playmakers, as it did last season when the teenage Wallaby played alongside Matt Giteau.
Certainly the performance of Mark Bartholomeusz at fullback against the Chiefs was solid enough to give Mitchell every confidence that he could redeploy O'Connor to his midfield without compromising the back three.
Even though Wallabies David Pocock, Richard Brown and Cameron Shepherd are still weeks away from a return from injury, the Force is slowly plugging its gaps.
Wingers Nick Cummins and Scott Staniforth and Test centre Ryan Cross all made their first appearances of the season against the Chiefs.
Still, this is a vulnerable time for the Force's confidence to be so low, with the March 15 deadline before the Melbourne Rebels are able to sign players from the other Australian provinces fast approaching. Five years ago when the Force was the new franchise chasing players, the Reds were just as vulnerable, also having lost their opening three matches that season.
The then-Force chief executive Peter O'Meara snapped up every disgruntled Queensland Red willing to relocate to Perth. And there were plenty of volunteers, nine of them.
Whether the Rebels will do unto the Force as the Force did unto the Reds remains to be seen. But given that Perth players are now enjoying a few days' holiday while their colleagues in the other provinces are all gearing up for round four, it's a fair bet that Melbourne recruiters will be flying west this week.
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