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NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian February 4, 2010, 6:49 am
Andre Pretorius
WA News / Mal Fairclough © Enlarge photo
Western Force star signing Andre Pretorius has been ruled out of tomorrow night's trial game against the Queensland Reds at ME Bank Stadium.
The playmaker threw an injury scare through the Force camp yesterday when he limped out of training with a hamstring problem.
The former Springbok fly-half felt his left hamstring tighten, went straight into the hands of physio staff and sat out most of the session.
His place in the run-on side will be taken by Mark Bartholomeusz.
Pretorius has a career littered with injuries and his presence is vital if the Force are to make any impact on the Super 14 competition this year.
He suffered a similar strain earlier in the pre-season, but his withdrawal from tomorrow's warm-up match was precautionary, a Force spokesman said.
Pretorius was joined on the sidelines yesterday by winger Haig Sare, who is in doubt for tomorrow week's season opener against the ACT Brumbies with an Achilles tendon strain, and hooker Ryan Tyrrell, who has a shoulder injury.
Hard-running centre Ryan Cross was a late withdrawal with an abdominal strain.
It is not an injury that would have kept him out of Super 14 but the Force want him fit for the Brumbies clash.
Winger Nick Cummins, injured in an accident while training with the Wallabies before the northern hemisphere tour, was put through sprints but is still several weeks away from full fitness.
Coach John Mitchell has dismissed critics and bookies who have already all but written his side off as a title contender.
"It's all hypothetical. At this time of year everything's hypothetical," he said. "Everyone makes a guess.
"What's important is what we have and what we do with what we have.
"That's the most important thing.
"We've clearly got expectations and high expectations as a group, but we'll just take one week at a time."
Mitchell would not disclose what those expectations were.
"We'll just leave that within the group," he said.
Mitchell revealed he had not yet spent any time studying opponents.
He believes the Force's Australian rivals, the Brumbies and NSW Waratahs, are under more pressure to perform than his side.
"I haven't even looked at any of the opposition during trial phase. Not even interested in them," Mitchell said. "Ultimately all we've been looking at is what we've got and what we've got to do.
"That's all that matters, (not) wasting our time and energy focusing on the opposition during trials.
"I think there's more pressure on the likes of the Brumbies and the Waratahs. If you look at the Brumbies, on paper they should win the competition."
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