Semi Final 1 Fijian Drua W v Western Force W

[Burgs]

Pomare returns in major boost for Force's Super W semi-final tilt

Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 11:56 AM
Ben Somerford

The Western Force have received a major boost for Friday’s historic Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s semi-final with the return of inspirational skipper Trilleen Pomare.

Pomare missed the Force’s thrilling 38-36 win over the ACT Brumbies with a minor knock but is named to start in the side’s first-ever semi-finals appearance.

Japan international front-rower Misaki Suzuki comes into the team as a reserve to replace hooker Sara Cline who has departed for international duty with Canada for the upcoming Pacific Four Series.

The pair are the only two changes from the side that beat the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday to clinch third spot.

The Force take on reigning back-to-back champions Fijian Drua from 12:35pm WST on Friday at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.

The Super W semi-final will be live on Stan Sport, while there will be regular updates @WesternForce on social media.

Game details

Fijian Drua v Western Force

Friday 19 April, 12:35pm WST

HFC Bank Stadium, Suva

Live on Stan Sport

Force:

1. Alapeta Ngauamo
2. Hera-Barb Malcolm Heke
3. Natsuki Kashiwagi
4. Michaela Leonard
5. Rosie Ebbage
6. Lucy Dinnen
7. Anneka Stephens
8. Tamika Jones
9. Samantha Wood
10. Nicole Ledington
11. Siutiti Ma’ake
12. Trilleen Pomare (c)
13. Sheree Hume
14. Brooklyn Teki-Joyce
15. Renae Nona

16. Misaki Suzuki
17. Hannah Palelei
18. Harono Te Iringa
19. Libya Teepa
20. Keira MacAskill
21. Dallys Tini
22. Haylee Hifo
23. Georgia Cormick

Drua:

1. Salanieta Nabuli
2. Keleni Marawa
3. Anasimeci Korovata
4. Jade Coates
5. Asinate Serevi
6. Nunia Daunimoala
7. Sulita Waisega
8. Karalaini Naisewa (c)
9. Setaita Railumu
10. Jenifer Ravutia
11. Adita Milinia
12. Merewalesi Rokouno
13. Vani Arei
14. Merewairita Neivosa
15. Atelaite Buna

16. Litia Marama
17. Bitila Tawake
18. Vika Matarugu
19. Mereoni Nakesa
20. Fulori Rotagavira
21. Evivi Senikarivi
22. Salanieta Kinita
23. Repeka Tove

[Burgs]

In Fiji, the Drua have been boosted by the signing of former captain Bitila Tawake.*

Tawake has been playing for the Chiefs in this season's Super Rugby Aupuki competition in New Zealand, going down to the Blues in the final.

"It's great to have Bitila back," head coach Mosese Rauluni said.

"She has always been an important part of the Drua and we've constantly been in touch. She'll get on splendidly with the rest of the squad, all of whom know her well already.

"Bitila comes to us match fit and battle hardened and will be a great asset to draw on as we prepare to take on the Western Force in Suva on Friday."

*Wonder what Martha is up to, she might like a run...
Seems pretty shit you can bring in players to a Final, must be the only comp I know of you don't have to qualify.

[Sheikh]

*Wonder what Martha is up to, she might like a run...
Seems pretty shit you can bring in players to a Final, must be the only comp I know of you don't have to qualify.

Pretty sure you'd be able to sign an injury replacement for the finals in Super Rugby. Professional sport has different rules to amateur.

[Burgs]

Pretty sure you'd be able to sign an injury replacement for the finals in Super Rugby. Professional sport has different rules to amateur.

Well, Rosie McGehan is injured out, get Twiggy on the blower!

[Burgs]

Pomare unfazed by long journey as Force head for semi-final in Fiji

Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 5:05 PM
Ben Somerford

The Super W team is heading to Fiji to take on the reigning champions for the 2024 Super W Semi-Finals, and Captain Trilleen Pomare says this game against the Fijian Drua is do or die.
Western Force captain Trilleen Pomare says she isn’t getting caught up worrying about the team’s long journey to Fiji ahead of Friday’s Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s semi-final against the Fijian Drua.

The Force traveled to Fiji three weeks ago for their Round 3 loss to the Drua and returned to the Pacific Island nation on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s Club-first Super W semi-final.

While the Force made the long journey from Perth to Sydney to Nadi three weeks ago, they opted to stay in Canberra and train at the AIS after Saturday’s 38-36 win over the ACT Brumbies, given the six-day turnaround.

The Force squad made a three-hour bus trip from Canberra to Sydney on Wednesday, before a four-hour flight to Nadi on Fiji’s west coast, followed by another three-hour bus trip to Suva in the south-east.

“It is what it is, we get caught up too much in how many hours and what it’ll take out of our bodies,” Pomare told ABC Perth’s Extra-Time radio show on Tuesday night ahead of the travel day.

“Mentally we’ve got to be prepared for it. We probably had an even harder trek in our round game when we went over there from Perth.

“Knowing we’ve cut one flight out is massive for us, coming from the west coast. We’re pretty stoked to be honest with that.”

Pomare’s positive attitude highlights her leadership within the group, with the captain named to make her return after missing the Round 5 win over the Brumbies.

The Wallaroo was part of the Force side that lost in Fiji to the Drua over the Easter weekend when they were met with torrential conditions with driving rain on a muddy, sodden pitch in Lautoka.

Friday’s semi-final will be played at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, with rain forecast but the pitch expected to be better, although Pomare wasn’t fazed either way, insisting the team needed to heed the lessons from their last meeting.

“We’re playing in Suva this time around. I’m told the facilities and fields there are a bit better,” she said.

“But a semi-final is do or die, so whatever conditions are thrown at us, we need to be able to adapt.

“Last time we didn’t take our opportunities. It’s a bit of a redemption round for us.”

Pomare has been an ever-present for the Force in Super W history, playing every single game in Club history until last week’s absence.

The foundation Force member has been part of several near-misses before, so she was thrilled to finally be part of the side’s first-ever semi-finals campaign

“It’s a huge honour to be honest,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming.

“I’ve been in the system and program for 10 years now. It’s our first crack at a semi. It means a lot to be someone who’s been here at the start of the program.

“We’ve always come close. I’m just hugely proud and hugely grateful. We’ve got so much talent, we always have in the west. It’s cool now we have a platform.”

Kick-off on Friday is 12:35pm WST. The game will be streamed live on Stan Sport with regular updates @WesternForce on social media.

[Burgs]

Fields to Force: Palelei's Journey from Swimmer to SuperW Semi-Finalist

Thu, Apr 18, 2024, 9:30 AM
Rugby WA Media

A plethora of local women will represent the Western Force in this week’s Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s Semi-Final.

As the Western Force compete in their first Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s final since the team’s inception in 2018, many local girls will have their opportunity to show the incredible talent coming out of Western Australia.

One of such talents is Hannah Palelei, who made her debut with the Force in 2023. In 2024, Palelei was elevated from the Western Force Academy on a full contract as a front-rower.

A different journey to most, Hannah was a competitive swimmer for many years, and only began her journey with rugby two years ago, in 2022.

“I had a lot of family involved in rugby, playing both union and league,” Hannah shared. “I didn’t play, but I was always around it.”

After taking a break from swimming, Hannah came to rugby with the desire to join a team sport.

“I started because one of my best friends was involved in rugby, and she was always trying to get me to come down.”

“I decided to give rugby a go, because I’d been involved in that through my family, and because everyone had always seemed so friendly, and it felt like a big family environment.”

“I went with my friend to Wests-Scarborough and played 10s, then 15s. From that, I was able to do the preseason with Western Force, and then into the Academy.”

“I played for Wanneroo last year, as Wests didn’t have a 15s team playing, but this year I’ll be going back to Wests.”

Making her debut for Western Force while still in the Academy is a highlight of Palelei’s journey with the sport, so far.

“My greatest memory so far was debuting for the Western Force last year in the third round. I went over to Melbourne with the team as the 24th Reserve, but then one of the girls got sick, so I was a match-day reserve.”

“I only went on and played for two or three minutes, but it was such an amazing experience, running out on the field at a massive stadium in front of the crowd. It was such an amazing experience, playing for may state, and really made me want to continue to make it professionally, maybe play for the Wallaroos one day.”

As a born-and-bred Perth local, the opportunity to play for WA through Western Force is important for Hannah.

“It’s so important to represent WA. I’ve grown up here, I’ve always been a Perth girl, since forever. It’s cool to get to run out for my state.”

“The Western Force program, and Dylan [Parsons, Western Force SuperW Head Coach], have done a really good job at teaching us about our history, both as a club and a state. We've learnt a lot about the Marlee, which is the symbol for both Western Force and RugbyWA.”

“Getting to know the history of WA and what we’re representing, it makes it a bit more special to represent the state.”

Hannah is part of Western Force’s history-making SuperW squad, who will be making their finals debut this Friday April 19, at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji.

“The team is looking so good at the moment, the energy is really good, the girls are all getting around each other Everyone’s effort is there, and we’re all excited to go into the semi-finals.”

“I’m really excited to play, I’ve never played against Fiji, so this is my first time playing against them. With the help of my teammates on the field, I think we have a good chance at beating them.”

Being two years into her journey with the game hasn’t stopped Hannah from reaching high and accomplishing incredible feats. Her advice for players like herself?

“Take every opportunity with both hands. WA is doing a really great job at giving the opportunities for young women to grow in the game. Take every opportunity to grow and take every bit of feedback you can. Take it on board, take every bit of feedback from coaches and teammates.”

“I’ve had a great support system of coaches, players, family like my Dad who played rugby, and friends. Take as many opportunities as you can that come up.”

“Just enjoy the game, too. The love of the game makes you passionate and want to play alongside your friends and family. Being passionate gives you drive and makes you want to win, so just love and enjoy the game.”

The Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade kicks off on May 11, and is set to feature an abundance of Western Force SuperW players in its ranks, including superstars like Hannah Palelei.

To watch them in action before then, the Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s Semi-Finals kick off this Friday at 12.35PM, with the Western Force Women taking on Fijian Drua at HFC Bank Stadium in Fiji.

Registrations are still open for the 2024 rugby season here in WA. To find your local club, head to wa.rugby/find-a-club.

[Burgs]

Parsons expects ‘contrast in styles’ in Super W semi-final

Thu, Apr 18, 2024, 5:00 PM
Ben Somerford

Western Force women's head coach Dylan Parsons spoke to the media ahead of Friday's Super W semi-final away to the Fijian Drua.
Western Force head coach Dylan Parsons expects Friday’s Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s semi-final against the Fijian Drua to be a “good contrast in styles”.

The Force landed in Fiji on Wednesday ahead of their maiden Super W finals appearance against the Drua from 12:35pm WST in Suva.

The visitors are fresh from an entertaining 38-36 win over the ACT Brumbies, where the Force scored four tries from rolling mauls, executing their lineout set-piece within the 22 brilliantly.

“It’s definitely been a strength of ours all season,” Parsons said. “We see that as an opportunity against Fijian Drua.

“They like the unstructured play. We want them to feel uncomfortable and try take that away from them by going to set-piece.

“It’ll be a good contrast in styles. We’ll see who comes out on top.”

It was only three weeks ago when the two sides last met in Fiji, with the Drua triumphing 19-5 on that day.

However, that was played in difficult conditions in Lautoka, not Suva, where the surface copped torrential rain and was muddied by the men’s game played beforehand, with puddles and even frogs on the pitch.

The forecast in Suva on Friday is for rain but the HFC Bank Stadium is expected to drain better than Lautoka. Parsons said those conditions combined with the lessons learned from the last meeting offered reason for optimism of a victory to clinch a maiden Sper W Grand Final berth (the decider will be played in Brisbane on Sunday 28 April from 12pm WST).

“That day we actually felt like we had the right game plan and the blueprint was there but we didn’t execute enough,” Parsons said.

“We’ve got the same plan as last time but we’ll back ourselves around execution this time round.

“The conditions are going to be different as well. It’s going to be a lot drier and it’s a nicer pitch over in Suva. With those changes and also a couple of other little tricks up our sleeve, we back ourselves to do a job there.

“At least the ground under foot is going to be a lot harder and cleaner, so we’ll back ourselves to use our skills and move the ball around but use some of our other strengths as well.

“It’s different conditions, it’s semi-final footy and Fijian Drua, this is their space where they do so well.”

The Force will be boosted by the return of captain Trilleen Pomare, who was rested from the final home-and-away game against the Brumbies.

“She’s our inspirational leader,” Parsons said. “To come back into our team as our skipper gives us a massive boost.

“From that, she’s going to give us that direction and when the times get tough we’ll look to her to lead us through.”

[The InnFORCEr]

Game is about to start, looks like a good crowd has shown up for it

[The InnFORCEr]

Just started to piss down

[The InnFORCEr]

11 minutes in and a yellow card to Fiji for a high tackle head on head.

Force go for the shot, Samantha Wood get it.

3 - 0 to Force

[The InnFORCEr]

15 minutes in, Fiji penalty.

Missed from in front of posts

3 - 0 Force

[The InnFORCEr]

19 minutes and Fiji score on the right side after a huge break from half way.

Conversion misses.

3 - 5 Fiji

[The InnFORCEr]

Another penalty to the Force

6 -5 Force

[The InnFORCEr]

Force just missed a kick for touch that Fiji fumbled. Force try to Ma'ake.

Missed conversion

11 - 5 Force after 28 minutes

[The InnFORCEr]

Very sloppy end to the half.

Rain has eased/stopped but lots of handling errors and scrums as a result.

Fiji score on the siren and misses conversion in front AGAIN.

HT - 11 - 10 to the Force