White & Rodda headline Force team for Round 1 vs Hurricanes

Wed, Feb 21, 2024, 11:00 AM
by Ben Somerford


The Western Force have named five starters to make their Club debuts in Friday night’s Super Rugby Pacific season-opening clash with the Hurricanes at HBF Park.

Off-season recruits Tom Franklin, Will Harris, Nic White, Ben Donaldson and Harry Potter will earn their first caps for the Force having been named in the XV.

Wallabies lock Izack Rodda has also been named to play after a long-term foot problem in a major boost.

Ben Funnell, Lopeti Faifua and Tiaan Tauakipulu could also all make their Club debuts having been named as reserves.

Tighthead prop Tauakipulu comes into the Force squad as an injury replacement for Harry Hoopert.

Force captain Jeremy Williams is unavailable due to head injury protocols, so Michael Wells and White will lead the side as co-captains.

The game will be live on Stan Sport, while there will be regular updates @WesternForce on social media, with kick-off from 7pm.

The game will be preceded by the Force women against Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix in a pre-season trial game from 4:30pm as part of a double-header.

Western Force v Hurricanes

Friday 23 February, 7pm WST HBF Park Live on Stan Sport Tickets via Ticketmaster

Team list

1. Marley Pearce
2. Tom Horton
3. Santiago Medrano
4. Thomas Franklin
5. Izack Rodda
6. Michael Wells
7. Carlo Tizzano
8. Will Harris
9. Nic White
10. Ben Donaldson
11. Chase Tiatia
12. Hamish Stewart
13. Sam Spink
14. Harry Potter
15. Max Burey

16. Ben Funnell
17. Charlie Hancock
18. Tiaan Tauakipulu
19. Lopeti Faifua
20. Tim Anstee
21. Ollie Callan
22. Issak Fines-Leleiwasa
23. George Poolman

https://westernforce.rugby/news/west...ound-1-2024221

Force v Hurricanes - key gameday info - Friday 23 February, HBF Park
Super Rugby Pacific kick-off 7pm
All gates open 5:30pm

Force v Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix women's trial game kick-off 4:30pm
Gate 1 opens 4:15pm

Members are encouraged to come early and catch all the action with every home match featuring a curtain raiser.

Members will have received a digital and/or physical Membership card which grants them access to HBF Park for all 7 home games this season, see below for your options, all of which will work:

1. You would have received an email with the subject line “Your digital member card is attached” which has two options to gain entry into HBF Park:
a. Print off the PDF attachment and use this to scan into HBF Park,
b. In the body of the email there is a link to download the exact same Member card into your phones wallet.
2. Physical Member Card – if you chose to purchase a physical Membership card through MBER+ and it has arrived, you can use this to enter the ground on Friday.

You will notice the barcode number is the same for all the above options so they all do the same thing, we’ve just provided you with different options this season.

Q&A Niamh and DHP at 6.30pm in the new Line Break Lounge (nee BBQ Terrace)

Members are encouraged to head to the Line Break Lounge for a pre-match Q&A at 6.30pm with new CEO Niamh O’Connor and Wallaby great Dane Haylett-Petty.

The Player of the Match will also be interviewed post-match and Members will have the chance to share in prizes sponsored by our Western Force partners through a post-match raffle.

The South Marquee will not be open this season as we look to enhance other dedicated Members only bars. The East BBQ Terrace has been rebranded as the Line Break Lounge and is open to all Western Force Members, simply show your Membership card to gain entry.

A few surprises on the team list.
Very surprised to see Rodda straight back into the 15, and hope he hasn't been rushed back due to injuries since an article in the last week or so was saying he was aiming for a return week 2 or 3.
Also surprised and somewhat disappointed that White is straight into the 15 - greatly prefer IFL. I guess he give more flexibility of the bench though with us going for a 6/2 split.
I also wonder why Moli and Kaitu'u haven't been included in the 23. Moli should be ahead of both bench prop options and Kaitu'u has been looking back to his old self in the warm ups.
Good looking team overall, but going to be a tough first hit out against a good looking Hurricanes side - team as below.

Hurricanes: Ruben Love, Josh Moorby, Billy Proctor, Jordie Barrett (co-capt), Kini Naholo, Brett Cameron, Jordi Viljoen, Peter Lakai, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Devan Flanders, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Caleb Delany, Pasilio Tosi, Asafo Aumua (co-capt), Xavier Numea. Reserves: James O’Reilly, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Tyrel Lomax, Justin Sangster, Brayden Iose, Cam Roigard, Riley Higgins, Salesi Rayasi.

This team of ours. I gotta tell ya. Im excited.

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Originally Posted by chiraag

Very surprised to see Rodda straight back into the 15, and hope he hasn't been rushed back .

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On the Pick & Drive podcast a couple of weeks ago Cron, when asked about his return said...."He's been doing contact work & he's bigger stronger, faster." Asked specifically about this week he said "He could be very close for round 1 but he still has some training to do". Make of that what you will. If that's where it's at & he's passed fitness testing you'd wonder if another week or two would make much difference.

Rodda left training early. A new injury.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wholetruth

Rodda left training early. A new injury.

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FFS!
Hopefully superficial.
I imagine with any knocks and speculation leading in to R1 they would have been being ultra conservative.

Bicep I believe and going for scans so I'd say a little more than precautionary. Likely out for 'Canes.

FMD the bloke is made of more glass than Will Pucovski :(

I like the starting team, but I reckon we might get munted in the scrums in the second half. Reckon it'll get get slippery with the heat.

BILLY PROCTOR SET TO PLAY 50TH GAME AGAINST WESTERN FORCE

Wed 21st Feb

The Hurricanes have named a stacked side for their first DHL Super Rugby Pacific (SRP) outing for 2024 against the Western Force in Perth this Saturday morning (12am NZDT).

The team includes exciting young halfback Jordi Viljoen, who is set to make his SRP debut starting in the number nine jersey. All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard returns to the side off the bench after missing the Hurricanes two preseason matches due to a minor injury.

With regular captain Brad Shields ruled out of this match, Asafo Aumua and Jordie Barrett have been named as co-captains.

Starting in the Front Row are Xavier Numia, Aumua, and Pasilio Tosi. They will be joined by Caleb Delany and Isaia Walker-Leawere in the Second Row; with Devan Flanders, Du’Plessis Kirifi, and Peter Lakai rounding out the loose Forwards.

Halfback Viljoen will be partnered by Brett Cameron at First-Five.

All Black Jordie Barrett and Billy Proctor will form an experienced midfield; while Kini Naholo, Josh Moorby, and Ruben Love will bring a lot of power and pace to the backline.

Hurricanes Head Coach Clark Laidlaw said settling on a starting XV after their two preseason hit outs wasn't easy but is excited with the side they have put together heading into their match against the Force.

“There were some tight selection decisions for the coaches in the end, but we’re really happy with the team that will run out in Round One,” Laidlaw said.

“This is the first game of the competition, so we’re excited to see the starting group run out, but more importantly it’s going to take 23 players to get the job done. We’ve got a lot of respect for the Force and we’re under no illusions around how good of a performance we’re going to have to put out on the field to come away with a win. It’s going to take a squad effort to get the performance we’re after.”

The match against the Force will also see Billy Proctor achieve a major milestone with the classy centre set to play his 50th game for the club – a milestone his brother and former Hurricane midfielder Matt Proctor also achieved.

Proctor said, “It’s a massive honour to play 50 games for the Hurricanes. It’s the team I grew up watching and it was always my dream to play just one game for the Hurricanes. But to be able to bring up 50 games this weekend and join my brother in the 50 club is something pretty special.”

The Hurricanes match against the Western Force kicks off at 12.00am NZDT on Saturday morning, 24 February; (7.00pm local time, Friday 23 February), at HBF Park in Perth.

Hurricanes SRP Round One team to play Western Force

1. Xavier Numia
2. Asafo Aumua (cc)
3. Pasilio Tosi
4. Caleb Delany
5. Isaia Walker-Leawere
6. Devan Flanders
7. Du’Plessis Kirifi
8. Peter Lakai
9. Jordi Viljoen (Debut)
10. Brett Cameron
11. Kini Naholo
12. Jordie Barrett (cc)
13. Billy Proctor (50th game)
14. Josh Moorby
15. Ruben Love

16. James O’Reilly
17. Pouri Rakete-Stones
18. Tyrel Lomax
19. Justin Sangster
20. Brayden Iose
21. Cam Roigard
22. Riley Higgins
23. Salesi Rayasi

https://www.hurricanes.co.nz/news/ar...-western-force

Poll added

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wholetruth

Bicep I believe and going for scans so I'd say a little more than precautionary. Likely out for 'Canes.

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According to RAu a Quad and getting a scan to determine severity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrewg

According to RAu a Quad and getting a scan to determine severity.

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gutted for him, some of the team just don't seem to be able to catch a break.