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The Western Force, still without a Super 14 win this season, have been given a massive boost, with star Wallabies flanker David Pocock committing to the club.
It is understood the 21-year-old Force vice-captain has agreed to terms that will take him beyond the 2011 World Cup.
Pocock has told club officials he will not be leaving, although contracts will not be signed until his management negotiates with the Australian Rugby Union his salary top-up component.
A club spokesman said: "We are getting very close, we are moving in the right direction. We still have a few things to work through but we are confident of keeping David in Perth."
_The _ _ West Australian _ reported last month that Pocock was not interested in joining new Super 15 franchise, the Melbourne Rebels, but he was being hunted by the ACT Brumbies as a replacement for retiring Wallaby George Smith.
Pocock is a highly principled young man who was always likely to stay with the club that helped make him a Wallaby. His 17-year-old brother, Steve, joined the Force academy this year.
He is currently sidelined with damaged tendons to the middle finger of his left hand but is expected to step up his training this week and could be ready for the Good Friday game against the Stormers at ME Bank Stadium. He will be battling teammate Matt Hodgson, who has put in some dynamic, man-of-the match performances.
Re-signing Pocock has been a priority for the Force, not only to maintain the strength of their back row, but to give them some leverage if they intend chasing Wallabies and Queensland Reds playmaker Quade Cooper, who is good friends with Pocock and Force teenage backline star James O'Connor.
Cooper is rumoured to have been offered a contract in France. The ARU is not likely to look at his contract renewal until after a burglary charge is heard in July. A decision on Cooper is one of the reasons the Force will not rush into playing its marquee card-signing for an overseas fly-half.
�George Smith insists he hasn't played his last Super rugby game as the Brumbies prepare to blood highly rated 18-year-old flanker Michael Hooper against the Chiefs in Canberra on Friday.
Smith, 29, will end a run of 59 consecutive games, stretching back to 2005, by missing the Chiefs match with shoulder nerve damage.
He was injured in last Friday's loss to the Blues in Auckland.
Smith, who has announced he will be leaving the Brumbies at the end of this season, hosed down reports he might have played his last game for the franchise for whom he has won eight player-of-the-year awards.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...for-long-haul/
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Originally Posted by Burgs
