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GITEAU TO POST 50th CAP AS HENJAK AND POCOCK RETURN
Flyhalf Matt Giteau is set to earn his 50th Super rugby cap and scrumhalf Matt Henjak will return from injury when the Emirates Western Force play the Brumbies on Friday night at Canberra Stadium.
Henjak moves straight back into the starting XV after overcoming a knee injury which kept him off the New Zealand tour.
Also returning to the squad is openside flanker David Pocock, who missed last week’s game against the Chiefs due to a leg strain.
Pocock replaces Matt Hodgson at No. 7 while David Pusey moves from the bench to No. 6, switching with Richard Brown.
Prop Troy Takiari comes into the run-on team, with AJ Whalley shifting to the bench, while Scott Staniforth replaces Digby Ioane on the wing.
Scrumhalf Chris O’Young has passed a cogsport test, having left the field in the 7th minute of the Chiefs game with suspected concussion, and will be Henjak’s back-up.
Emirates Western Force Head Coach John Mitchell said the return of Henjak, Pusey and Staniforth to the starting team meant the Force would field its most experienced XV in recent rounds.
He said they’d been down to their third-string scrumhalf last week, and would benefit from Henjak’s back row-like style of play in a contest he expected to be of high tempo.
“There’s a lot of stake here, not just for the Force and the Brumbies but for Australian rugby,” he said.
“It’s important one of us gets a win out of this so that Australia is represented at the business end of the season,” he said.
Mitchell said the Brumbies boasted the best defensive record in the competition, and the focus this week had been on tailoring the Force game plan accordingly and identifying opportunities.
“The Brumbies good form of late and the return of Steve Larkham are no coincidence,” he said.
“We’ve obviously been exposed in defence recently and that’s something we have also worked hard on.”
“The boys are excited about the last Australian derby for the year. It should be a cracker of a contest.”
The squad:
1. Gareth Hardy
2. Tai McIsaac
3. Troy Takiari
4. Rudi Vedelago
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. David Pusey
7. David Pocock
8. Scott Fava
9. Matt Henjak
10. Matt Giteau
11. Cameron Shepherd
12. Junior Pelesasa
13. Ryan Cross
14. Scott Staniforth
15. Drew Mitchell
16. Luke Holmes
17. AJ Whalley
18. Luke Doherty
19. Richard Brown
20. Chris O’Young
21. James Hilgendorf
22. Digby Ioane