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By Dale Granger The Sunday Telegraph April 08, 2012 11:05AM
Returning ... Shepherd will be back in the Force line-up on Friday night. Source: Justin Benson-Cooper / News Limited
Western Force will welcome much-needed backline experience to their squad this week with Fijian flyer Napolioni Nalaga and Wallabies utility Cameron Shepherd returning from injury for Friday's derby clash against New South Wales Waratahs.
The Waratahs are coming off a bye this weekend but will still be stinging from the humiliation suffered at the hands of the Force four weeks ago in Sydney, where the home crowd booed their shamed heroes off the field.
Force captain David Pocock played down the significance of the Force's 21-20 triumph in Sydney and the revenge factor, saying his team would have to prepare for a fierce battle irrespective of recent history.
"Every Australian derby is a big one. It's pretty personal - you know the guys pretty well and we expect nothing less than a pretty fired up Waratahs team. You can be sure of that," said the ace Force fetcher.
A fit-again Nalaga and Shepherd give Force coach Richard Graham a battle-hardened edge, absent in the Perth club's rookie backs and exploited by a Chiefs side fielding five All Blacks backline stars that swept them to a 20-12 win on Friday.
Coach Richard Graham was a lot harsher on his inexperienced backs than Chiefs counterpart Dave Rennie, who said the Force had improved substantially from their last effort - a 19-46 annihilation by the Hurricanes.
Graham praised his forwards and the team's "outstanding defensive effort", but lamented that the backs brought "no balance to our game".
Rennie admitted the Force had "frustrated" his side.
"We had the wood on them when we had the ball in our hands, but we were not accurate enough and turned the ball over a bit and spent a lot of time defending," he said.
"The boys had to make a lot of tackles and worked hard right to the final whistle.
"It's not that easy to win here and the Force are a lot better than a few weeks back."
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