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Wayne Smith | February 06, 2008
DON'T anyone mention the B-word - boring - but the Western Force plans to limit the time it spends in New Zealand before matches this year to ensure its players don't nod off.
It's a curious statistical quirk that the Force has the most successful winning percentage of any Super 14 touring team in South Africa, three wins and a draw from five matches there, yet has not won in five starts in New Zealand.
It's a dangerous thing to suggest that Australian teams fail to respond to the stimulus of all that New Zealand has to offer. It was only two years ago, for instance, that Reds fullback Chris Latham incurred the wrath of the Kiwis by daring to suggest Queensland's loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton was due to the fact there was "really not much to do" in the regional dairy centre.
"Hamilton is a real go-ahead city," Waikato Tourism chief executive John Rasmussen thundered in response. "It just got the NZ franchise for the V8 racing circuit, for God's sake."
By happy coincidence, the Reds will be back in Hamilton on April 26 for another meeting with the Chiefs. Awaiting them, presumably, will be the brochure Rasmussen has promised each team member, "154 things to do in and around Hamilton".
Sadly, it's now down to 153 as far as the Reds are concerned. The V8 race will be staged there the weekend before they arrive.
With former Chiefs and All Blacks coach John Mitchell at the helm of the Perth team, Force captain Nathan Sharpe was at his diplomatic best in explaining why his side will be spending as little time as possible in New Zealand this year.
"We've got a lot of young guys in the team who need to be energised during the week," Sharpe explained. "They're not guys who will sit in their rooms or just wander around the streets or sit around and have coffee.
"The majority of our team like to get out and do things which keep them active during the day and keep them out of the hotel. In South Africa, there's more opportunity to do that.
"When we go to New Zealand, we get a bit more stagnant. There's not quite as much to do. I think it's a little bit of lethargy. Guys wake up on the morning of the game and, whilst we haven't done a lot during the week, we haven't actually stimulated ourselves.
"But we're looking at ways of combating that. This year we're going to go to New Zealand later. This year we're going to fly in on the Wednesday to play on the Friday. So less time there ..."
Meanwhile, Latham is trying to lower his energy levels for tomorrow's final pre-Super 14 match against the Force in Perth after having badly over-revved against the Blues last week in Brisbane.
Arguably Australia's most consistent player, Latham turned in a rare shocker against the Blues, bungling just about every pass that came his way.
"It was a case of wanting too much and trying too hard," Latham said. "It was my first game of the season and my last game ever at Ballymore and I just wanted it to be a good one."
Tomorrow's trial is shaping as a strong pointer to the performance of both the Reds and Force, with Mitchell matching Reds coach Phil Mooney by naming his best available side.
The Reds will be missing only winger Digby Ioane, an injury-related omission but a timely one nonetheless given that a hostile reception would surely have awaited him at Members Equity Stadium following his messy departure from Perth last year. Only Haig Sair, because of niggling leg injuries, James Hilgendorf and Tamaiti Horua will be absent from the Force.
Horua arrived in Perth on Monday from Japan, where he has played the past two seasons for Toyota. Jet lag aside, he would have been struggling to play because of concussion.
The Brumbies, meanwhile, will roll out all their World Cup Wallabies, save for Stirling Mortlock, for Friday's trial against the Hurricanes in Levin after naming George Smith, Stephen Hoiles, Julian Huxley, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Mark Gerrard.
With halfback Josh Holmes, the Brumbies' star recruit from the Waratahs, making his debut for his new team, the backline is starting to take on the shape it will have for the season proper.
Not that the Waratahs are struggling at halfback, with Josh Valentine named to start against the Crusaders tomorrow night at the Sydney Football Stadium and Brett Sheehan on the bench.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...012430,00.html
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Originally Posted by GIGS20
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