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Super Rugby 2024 Week 9, Crusaders still not up to it in their rebuilding phase as Western Force walk home with a huge win at HBF Park

by Sports Benches

Week 9 of the 2024 Super Rugby Season ended with the battle of the bottom feeders before all 12 teams will be back on the road to finish off the regular season – Western Force v Crusaders at HBF Park. Crusaders fired off early as always with their strong starts but Force filled most of the first half up with some good momentum going into the break 15-5. Yes, the Crusaders have their moments at times where they thought they were back on track but then half of the side isn’t still up to it as the Force went on to extend their lead including a couple more not long before full-time with a huge win in Perth 37-15.

The man who kept a great eye on the Crusaders’ struggles tonight is Izack Rodda after he made an instant impact off the Western Force bench unexpectedly early on the second row with so much powerful physical straits to lock them down both ways in attack and defense. It led to so many things going his team’s way where the Force made the most out of their opportunities with a good first-half lead followed by an extraordinary 2nd half performance in front of the home supporters as great to see him back in Super Rugby through his previous years with the Reds after a tough last 1-2 years due to injury.

Next up is Ben Donaldson – another key Force player looking to make No.10 on his own every week – having had some inconsistencies before with the Waratahs over the last few years and also for at Wallabies lnternatonally. His kicking game looks near 100% for a start when adding the extra points off the back of the Crusaders’ poor discipline and defense; he’s also able to stretch his attack across the pitch which was another factor to the Force getting past the opposition on the counter attack with numbers on the board and can spot them being isolated which reflects his good defensive awareness all around.

Great to have the wealth of experience alongside a great coach (Simon Cron) & the goal now is to get some winning momentum from here for an outside Top 8 push starting with the Highlanders in Dunedin next Saturday.

And Sevu Reece holds the glue in the Crusaders dressing room where he just became the leading TRY scorer (53) which was an enormous achievement from the wide right. They are so grateful for his explosive pace and most importantly the experience on offer as he still has unfinished business at 27 having returned from a long-term knee injury at the start of this season. But in the meantime it’s just him running the show alone when the forwards simply weren’t on par that led to a pile of discipline and defensive mistakes as well as missed opportunities that isolated him and his backline & the current No.10 didn’t do much good either – looks like the Top 8 chances now looking near nigh now where things will be even harder before they will have to sit out the Finals for the first time in 2024 with the Melbourne Rebels next up at home in Christchurch on Friday.

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Thoughts on whether Rugby Australia can still accommodate the resources & funding to support five Super Rugby teams after the Melbourne Rebels huge success so far in 2024

by Sports Benches

Last night, Melbourne has witnessed their own Rugby team winning another game this time v Highlanders in the form of the Rebels and they now sit in 4th place on the ladder with a bye next week before they resume to go all in & hopefully have their first taste of Finals footy. Although they did play in the Qualifying Final back in 2020 v QLD Reds under a temporary Super Rugby AU comp when COVID interrupted our daily lives at the time & the Waratahs weren’t doing much good back then.

However, questions will still need to be answered by Rugby Australia amid the Rebels still being broke as whether or not if they have the resources including the talent pool to support as many as five teams? It’s been a long-running debate that saw two teams end up in the hole including the ACT Brumbies whose existence will not be taken away anytime soon thanks to their decorated history regularly up front that reflects long-running success. There’s another team that won’t be in for the axe at all is the NSW Waratahs whose history is also so strong in a Rugby dominated state/market that goes back to hundreds of years despite their mediocrity over the last couple of years; Same goes to the Queensland Reds – so rule both of them out too as removing those big influences & RA investing more into the Brumbies, Rebels & even Western Force won’t help that much.

While we’d like to go back to the way things were when the Wallabies were oh so good with just three teams in the 1990s and early 2000s, it won’t happen since the world has changed over time with most professional sports here having an excellent national footprint. At the end of the day, it’s still going to be five teams without needing to axe a team again under a few conditions – if the Rebels get cut, 1. I’d to see a like-for-like replacement with the Jaguares coming back this time as a Melbourne-based team by inheriting most of the Rebels players with a few Los Pumas Internationals coming over and 2. Western Force gets some help from Japan and merge with the Sunwolves while still playing most of the games in Perth.

That way, we will able to meet the goal of having all five Australian Super Rugby teams thriving against the long-dominating New Zealand counterparts. Plus, the talent pool will be stronger as ever which in turn will get more quality Australian Super Rugby players coming from all five teams for the benefit of the Wallabies returning to its former glory by winning games & silverware again while expanding overseas selection availability since the Springboks won back-to-back recent World Cups under this model including the next crop of local grassroots kids who will learn massively from the seasoned Internationals playing here.

And hopefully no more fighting after consistently losing to the All Blacks over the last 20 + Bledisloe Cup editions while experiencing the worst World Cup campaign ever where they exited the group stages for the first time last year in France as the worst thing can happen is for RA to face someone in the courtroom yet again like the Force back in 2017, The end.

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2024 Super Rugby Half-Yearly Report, Hurricanes still unbeaten with Melbourne Rebels finally thriving other than the ACT Brumbies

by Sports Benches

Round 8 is now done and we are at the halfway stage of the 2024 Super Rugby Season with one more shortened series of four games next weekend while some teams will undertake the required week-long off the field and all 12 teams will then look to bring it home non-stop towards the end of this regular home and away portion. For now, let’s look back what happened over the past month between Rounds 5 to 8 when we finished March while having an Easter long weekend before entering April and the clocks have moved back an hour with all cold game nights ahead after Daylight Savings was over one week ago.

New Zealand teams

Hurricanes still strong albeit Cam Roigard’s knee injury that will keep him out of the field for six months as let’s see if that unbeaten run continues with games coming up v Fijian Drua as well as two Aussie teams like Brumbies & Waratahs. What else? Blues also on the same wavelength as the Hurricanes where they got the Brumbies next up followed by the Reds and Rebels, so won’t be easy when facing Aussie opposition but they should be alright though with 1-2 wins mainly v Reds and Rebels. Chiefs also not bad despite some losses lately v Crusaders in Christchurch a few weeks ago as well as the unbeatable Hurricanes just now & they have a good next series of matches which we will expect to see them again at Finals time. Then Highlanders have shown that they can always stay in the game but four losses over the last month isn’t a good look whose progress is still in the rebuilding phase which will take a bit more time. And on the Crusaders, great to see them win at last two weeks ago v Chiefs. Although they were unlucky v Waratahs again the other day thanks to Will Harrison’s last-minute drop goal, but they are on the right track though lately as they still need to win the rest if the Saders want to play Finals this year.

Australian teams

ACT Brumbies are still unstoppable who currently sits 2nd with games coming up v the Top 2 such as Blues next Saturday and the Hurricanes after that. Can they be the top ranked side in this comp other than being just the best here that saw them accomplish regular semi-finals over the last couple of years? We’ll see. Melbourne Rebels, on the other hand, got away with really good wins off the back of the Waratahs as that team so far can only win v the new-look Crusaders, as well as Fijian Drua who still struggle away from home and of course, the Highlanders by a comfortable margin. They now sit 4th amid financial problems at the start of this year as nothing is still guaranteed whether if they will be back playing next season & beyond.

Plus, the Queensland Reds good start under Les Kiss has turned sour in recent weeks after three straight losses to the Western Force, ACT Brumbies and now Moana Pasifika. The good news is they are still within the Top 8 bubble in 6th but bad news is they need to win games again if Queensland wish to do well in the Finals and not let it slip out with fear like last year when Brad Thorn had his course as head coach. Meanwhile, the NSW Waratahs are still struggling other than winning games v the Crusaders and they too have a series of tough matches ahead after next week’s bye like Chiefs, Hurricanes and also the Brumbies again. And while the Western Force was fortunate to celebrate the rare home win v Reds, they still haven’t been at their best despite having lots of experienced players. Looking ahead, the run-in fixtures doesn’t look any good to them as an outside finals berth looks less likely but surely they will get some wins at home though like Crusaders, Drua and Waratahs.

Pasifika teams

We all know that the Drua like the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels can have a strong home crowd impact which reflects their impressive winning record there but not so much away from home. They got the Hurricanes and Moana Pasifika coming up at home soon to close out April, so this could mean business for them to get back on track to stay inside the Top 8 bubble and hopefully play Finals again like they did during their sophomore campaign last year. And what about Moana Pasifika? They made some excellent progress at last as seen in the early rounds of 2024, although they had some heavy losses recently until Moana beat the Reds the other day but that was against the top teams. They will need at least 3-4 wins now in order to enjoy their first finals experience as long as the ladder doesn’t change that much over the next 4-6 weeks, but again Moana is making some gradual progress on their third year before they can be more like Drua and win more games in the long run.

Post-Notes

All in all, the New Zealand teams are still dominating Super Rugby as the Crusaders downfall should only last this season while Australia has made some great progress too – including a couple of upset wins against some of the established or original foundation teams should I say – with the Brumbies and Rebels being their best so far in 2024. Nothing much will change as wouldn’t mind a couple of more upsets and other team wins that isn’t a New Zealand team or from somewhere in the bottom four, but the only exception we might see is for the Crusaders to win all the remaining games as they can & make the Finals just inside the Top 8 by the time we wrap up Round 12 before all 12 teams will then become eight teams after Round 15.

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Western Force’s strong home performance ends Queensland Reds’ strong start to the 2024 Super Rugby Season at HBF Park

by Sports Benches

It was a high scoring game with a huge encouraging performance from the home team as the Western Force has just secured their first win of 2024 v the Queensland Reds at HBF Park in Perth after a winless first couple of games. They were able to get the ball rolling as many as three tries that puts them way in front throughout the first half, although the Reds finally got their first big score not long before half-time as the scoreline was 28-5. Now the Reds again thought they are back on track thanks to another Tate McDemott TRY but then the Force continued to increase their lead over time where they have absolutely dominant all along even though the Reds were able to pick up some late points towards the end, 40-31. After five rounds, the Reds drop to fifth while the Force push the Crusaders to last & now into 11th just behind the Waratahs (10th) by two points.

Hats off to Bayley Kuenzle who was unbelievable on the wing tonight for the Western Force, even though he usually specialises at 10 or on the centre. But again, his Super Rugby experience & physicality is something the opposition couldn’t underestimate where he always keeps on moving as his two TRY performance alongside his excellent defensive work has put the Western Force on the front seat all along for his team’s first win of 2024 – such an excellent team player. There’s another good player with Super Rugby experience who is doing really well back home in Perth also for the Force and his name is Carlo Tizzano who plays on the openside back row at No.7. He is someone the Reds didn’t enjoy every time he locked up the Reds attack in defense whose form was isolated before he and his team made the most out of their quick and electrifying attacking passage of play including two tries for himself. After a winless first couple of rounds, he and Bayley credits the strong home crowd at HBF Park as they will look to give back more good wins from here starting with the Fijian Drua away next Saturday.

And Reds’ No.9 co-skipper Tate McDermott did the best he can to keep up the scoreboard where his team fell short following his own two TRY performance in between half-time. The attacking build-up is there to see where he knows where to find his men on the counter as promised from the beginning, but then a few poor executions allowed the Force to swoop successfully in return where the Reds were vulnerable at their own end before it was too late with little time remaining. The Reds had a great start under Les Kiss (new head coach) until now which wasn’t easy after making the few hours trip to Perth as they will do so again on the way home before another tough test ahead v the high-flying Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium next Saturday.

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2024 Super Rugby Monthly Review after Week 4 of 15: Crusaders at an all-time low while other New Zealand teams still winning & the Reds new era off to a flying start alongside regular semi-finalists the Brumbies

by Sports Benches

What you need to know so far after one month or Week 4 of 15 in the 2024 Super Rugby Season?  Let’s begin with the New Zealand teams who still enjoy plenty of success except one team at the moment despite a huge off-season overhaul. The Hurricanes have been outstanding with no losses so far on top, Chiefs still enjoying success after topping the table & then fell short at the Grand Final bar the Reds loss last weekend, the Blues aren’t that bad without Beauden Barrett only for this year, Highlanders making some encouraging progress after they missed out the Finals last year & the defending champs Crusaders are a completely different team now with four straight losses & as well as a lengthy injury list.

Meanwhile in Australia, things aren’t that bad over here as there’s plenty more to prove after a disastrous year in this sport including an early exit from the World Cup. The Reds new era under coach Les Kiss has been so far, so good other than the last minute Super Round loss v Hurricanes, as well as regular semi-finalists Brumbies still going strong. Plus, the Waratahs may have taken the odd win v the new-look Crusaders also at the Super Round but have unluckily lost lately both on home turf. Western Force still hasn’t won yet despite injecting more Super Rugby experience & although the Rebels has won some games, but only against Force & Moana on what might be their last season since they’re broke.

And Moana Pasifika has made the step up  with some success after a slow first two years, while the Fijian Drua might have also won v Crusaders on home soil in Fiji last weekend but still have unfinished business to prove if they wish to play in the Finals once again in June this year.

Looking at the next four weeks, things won’t change much unless the Crusaders finally climb back up from the bottom that will shake up the ladder a bit. I would be a bit surprised though if we will manage to see just a few shock upsets here & there.

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Thoughts on the Melbourne Rebels experiencing its lowest downfall behind the scenes with no guarantee they will be back playing after the 2024 Super Rugby Season

by Sports Benches

Things are going from bad to worse at the Melbourne Rebels who are operating by little by little now. First of all, they’ve entered voluntary administration 1-2 weeks ago while they were owed lots of money in debt. Now not only a few of their staff including the board were forced to leave but also they have just $17,300 left with just a few pieces of office furniture, gym equipment & two cars. Although they will be playing out this season since the fixtures have already been laid out for the over the next few months as there’s no way back, but still no guarantee the Rebels will return in 2025 which will be highly unlikely. 

It will be devastating to see Rugby leave Melbourne where they’ve been the host of the three-day annual Super Round weekend for a few years, which isn’t too far away now for Round 2 at the start of March. They also hosted the home Bledisloe Cup games when the Wallabies v All Blacks over the last two years (2022 at Marvel Stadium & 2023 at MCG) & will be hosting Wales during the 2nd mid-year tour match in mid-July at AAMI Park. Yes, they have also produced a few Wallabies players of their own over the last few years & not being able to play for a local professional team like the Rebels like underage level & then into Super Rugby before stepping up at International level would see them end up elsewhere. Regardless of what happens, there will always be some people wanting to play rugby from a young age in Melbourne & across Victoria.

But if you look at the on-field results however, they barely do anything good apart from the rare 9th placed finish back in 2018 when they benefited from Western Force’s axing from Super Rugby at the time. You might also tell that they do have a great line-up of players too from the off-season despite a huge mess off the field lately, but don’t think it will make much of a difference when all of the players’ contracts including the coaching staff under Kevin Foote will last through the end of June.

Look it’s so hard to tell having looked at options to see the Rebels live on such as merging with another team like the ACT Brumbies from Canberra and even Moana Pasifika. But no matter what you think whether or not if the merged squad would be even stronger, it’s unfortunately not a good idea when merging two teams would see plenty of uproar amongst fans in the Rugby community here. That means, you will be taking out the history they’ve built for such a long time like 27 years & it won’t be good to see that kind of value go, who fear the team they support will soon be gone under a different location & new team identity. It means a lot to them & that will be irreplaceable as Rugby Australia never wanted to do it anyway.

Now here’s what will happen if the Rebels meet their comeuppance, as said, it would be so sad to lose an Australian Super Rugby side as RA always wanted to keep all five teams in order to have a national footprint, which is understandable. 

But the results and lack of silverware including their worst ever World Cup last year is still weighing against them over the last 20 + years as the question is can they support five teams? The answer is no unfortunately because RA proved that they are unable to make room to support themselves financially for all five Super Rugby teams in order to have the best success as we will be down to four after this with the Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies & Western Force. Yes, there were rumours about the Brumbies also entering the same way (voluntary administration) as the Rebels, who are also running tight on funds. But considering their strong on-field presence year-long round that includes making the Finals every year where they went all the way as the only Australian team here to the semi-finals meaning it will be too difficult to see them go.

Even so with four teams here that was done on more than a few occasions, they still haven’t translated much success into International level as the Wallabies used to enjoy dominating on the field with just three Super Rugby teams of Reds, Waratahs & Brumbies back then in the 1990s & early 2000s. So is abandoning the national footprint plan for a pro-rugby state strategy that would finally see the Wallabies return to winning ways just like Rugby League does mostly in NSW & QLD? This could finally be the answer with the Western Force from Perth either playing in Japan or relaunching their own comp in Global Rapid Rugby considering Andrew Forrest has lots of cash in the bank. They are a side that has been in and out off the comp for a long time since 2006 whose form weren’t bad during most home games last year but still yet never made the finals.

In the meantime, Rugby Australia has lots of issues to address where the silverware cabinet has been mostly empty other than the rare 2011 Tri Nations & 2015 Rugby Championship as time will tell soon enough with or without the Melbourne Rebels.

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Rugby News Australia, 2024 Super Rugby Season Preview

by Sports Benches

We are about to enter the 28th year of Super Rugby & yet things are still not the same as it once was back in the glorious 1990s-early 2000s when Australia (Wallabies) benefited so much success right until the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Yes, they won just three Super Rugby championships ever since but that doesn’t mean they are on the same standard as their Tasman neighbours, New Zealand. There has been so many changes through the off-season with regards to musical chairs at players and coaching staff amongst multiple teams. Waratahs handed over control to Rugby Australia recently while the Reds got a new head coach. Plus, Brumbies staying strong as the leading Super Rugby team here, as well as Western Force who are looking to return to the finals with the recruitment of some experienced players. And this week, the Melbourne Rebels entered voluntary administration even though they will continue to play just for this season, despite some star hirings of their own.

Over in New Zealand, most of the five teams (Blues, Hurricanes & of course Crusaders) except Chiefs & Highlanders will now have new head coaches where most of them from last year have joined Scott Robertson at the All Blacks as the Crusaders will begin a brand new era in 2024 without him. He was the one who delivered so many Super Rugby championships including last year’s final v Chiefs & it remains to be seen if the Crusaders can keep on winning including delivering another championship under former Waratahs coach Rob Penney. And for the Highlanders, they are under a big rebuilding phase with Jamie Joseph back onboard to try & return to its former glory as the head of rugby after they missed the Top 8 finals bubble in 9th last year.

We also don’t forget the two Pasifika teams to round off the line-up with Fijian Drua coming off from a great second season before they were elminated by the Crusaders in the last 8 as winning away from home would be the great next step to stay in the Top 8 & Moana Pasifika needs more time so they can really win games after they finished last over the last two seasons.

This year could be a great opportunity to see an even/level playing field where it’s Australia’s time at last to catch up to NZ but despite there will be some really close games, the outcome won’t change much where we will see a New Zealand winner once again whether it’s going to be the Crusaders or Blues or Chiefs by surprise whereas the Brumbies will continue being the best Australian Super Rugby team. Likewise in previous seasons though, the Brumbies will unfortunately still be nowhere near the Grand Final radar either in the quarter or semi finals. Yes, Rugby Australia is going with the high performance centralisation system alongside Joe Schmidt as their new head coach in the hope of also winning games again following a disastrous group stage campaign for the first time ever at last year’s World Cup in France. But the question remains to be seen whether or not if they can support five teams, having seen the Rebels fall into trouble off the field this week? While there will always going to be some Victorian/Melbourne born talent, there’s no guarantee that the Rebels will continue to play at AAMI Park going into 2025 and beyond. For now, the new season will start on Friday 23rd February right until mid-June where every game is live and Ad-Free on Stan Sport while there’s always a Saturday night game being simulcast via free-to-air on 9Gem.

Predicting ladder 2024

  1. Crusaders (champions)
  2. Chiefs (then semi-finalists)
  3. Blues (runners-up)
  4. ACT Brumbies (then semi-finalists)
  5. Hurricanes
  6. NSW Waratahs
  7. Queensland Reds
  8. Highlanders
  9. Fijian Drua
  10. Western Force
  11. Melbourne Rebels
  12. Moana Pasifika
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Rugby News Australia, Thoughts on Stephen Hoiles’s suggestion on cutting one Australian Super Rugby side, but it’s best we go back to just only three teams like it once was before

by Sports Benches

Yes, first and foremost I agreed with Stephen Hoiles that our Super Rugby system here in Australia is broken. But I don’t agree that one team should be dropped out like it was 5-6 years ago when we didn’t win a lot with four Australian teams from 2006-2010 as well as 2018-2020 until COVID has changed things unexpectedly from there.

Instead, I think that dropping two teams would be for the best for Rugby Union in Australia where the Western Force & Melbourne Rebels can get International experience elsewhere, while we go back to the system that worked so well for us before with just the ACT Brumbies, NSW Waratahs & Queensland Reds. That way, you only need three top-quality teams in order to do well not just against our New Zealand counterparts, but it would also help our Wallabies get back to their best again where we can win silverwares regularly & be Top 3-4 instead of sitting around 9th-13th right now.

We also know & understand that Rugby Union here is an International sport. How come New Zealand has lots of Rugby teams where they got five in Super Rugby & the rest down to the Tier 2 National Provincial Championship comp? We should do the same with three Super Rugby teams & the rest elsewhere. But otherwise, there’s always the Top League over in Japan, who should bring both the Rebels & Force over from Super Rugby. It’s the kind of standard that suits them (Rebels & Force) perfectly when facing a bunch of other Japanese teams that includes the same day time zone as well. 

So all in all, we’d be all for it if Rugby Australia downsizes from five to three Super Rugby teams going forward. At the same time though, we want the Force & Rebels play in Japan and/or through a new National 2nd Tier comp as we have nothing against them. It’s just the fact that they’re both not Super Rugby standard and it’s been hurting us for a long time.

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Mat Rogers is right, Wallabies on their way towards becoming a Tier 2 Rugby nation and Rugby Australia needs to fix this now

by Sports Benches

It’s time to be very honest and upfront to the board at Rugby Australia that this isn’t working where we keep on losing matches time & time again without any regular silverware for a very long time. 

First of all, please go back to having just three Super Rugby teams – NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds & ACT Brumbies. It’s something that worked before in the past and they should look to either create a national 2nd tier comp involving both Western Force & Melbourne Rebels or send both teams to some Asia-Pacific comp or even the Top League in Japan where they can compliment each other very well at that kind of standard.

Have a look at South Africa when they had to cut back 2 Super Rugby teams & sending them over to Europe at the same time back in late 2017? It actually worked out well for them, having went on to win a World Cup a few years ago while being able to beat the All Blacks occasionally which is what we should exactly be doing. They’re even one of the four favourite teams to take home this year’s World Cup too & despite not having the Cheetahs onboard when playing against International opposition sometimes in an annual European rugby comp right now, things are currently on the up for them.

Now yes, not everything we suggest can be perfect as we all see Rugby as an International sport compared to Rugby League & Aussie Rules Football. But then with League, they don’t have a Perth & Adelaide team & yet it’s going so well for them being as the fastest game in the country & even on earth. You might also argue that the Melbourne Storm is one of the most successful teams out in League but that sport is also observed by all Aussies, not Rugby where Melbourians would rather pick up a Football and play AFL, VFL or League with the Storm than playing Rugby for the Rebels. 

So no room to have another footy code there sadly no matter how much effort they put in to have an annual Super Round as well as the home Bledisloe Cup test match v All Blacks. The same goes to Perth where they’re not a traditional Rugby state despite a whole heap of investments thanks to Andrew Forrest, but the results isn’t there to back it up compared to our traditional state teams as it’s best if the Force & Rebels play elsewhere – nothing against them. All we want is for Rugby Australia to realise their potential in Super Rugby that would in turn help them win games again v the top International teams as not only we’re frustrated but NZ Rugby as well when the ABs are beginning to slip away from the Top 3-4 thanks to us here.

Please do us a favour and go back to the way things were that made Australia once successful in all fronts before both in Super Rugby (you only need three teams to be really successful v NZ teams every weekend in order to win championships) & Wallabies (selection structure would help too) while maintaining the national footprint by having a National Tier 2 comp or send both Western Force & Melbourne Rebels to another comp as well as investing more in grassroots elsewhere.

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Rugby News, Thoughts on Folau Faingaa switching teams from the Brumbies to Western Force beginning next year

by Sports Benches

We didn’t see that coming when Folau Faingaa just defected teams from the ACT Brumbies to now the Western Force starting next season on a two-year deal, while remaining with Rugby Australia for Wallaby selection at the same time. He also reunites with a couple of ex-Brumbies who now play their trade in Perth – including Reejan Pasitoa, Bayley Kuenzle, Issak Fines, Kyle Godwin, Toni Pulu, Harry Lloyd & Angus Wagner.

It’s a great sign of ambition being shown there from the WA-based Super Rugby side – who wants to make the most of themselves in the long-term at Super Rugby level – and be a competitive front on the pitch. Plus, it will be great to see Faingaa get the chance to show his full 80 spells ahead of Felati Kaitu’u for the leading hooker position after he always start half-games often, before he was replaced by Lachlan Lonergan every time later during the 2nd half in a Brumbies shirt.

They have came from a long way since their shock axing back in 2018 before COVID changed everything three years ago, and Rugby Australia has came to their rescue once more as the 5th full-time Super Rugby Team here alongside the Melbourne Rebels, ACT Brumbies, NSW Waratahs & Queensland Reds.

From the Super Rugby AU Qualifying Final in 3rd last year to a near Top 8 finish in 9th this season in the Super Rugby Pacific; They’ve gone from strength to strength, having replaced Tim Sampson with one of the emerging coaches from New South Wales in none other than – Simon Cron – as the new head coach.

Not only he knows the NSW Rugby system & talent pool very well like current Tahs head coach Darren Coleman, he also most recently worked with Steve Hansen over the last three years as Director of Rugby at Toyota Verblitz in Japan.

There’s also a talented youngster in Jeremy Williams coming over from the Tahs where he will replace the now-retired Jeremy Thrush on the second row, while they convinced experienced Flanker/Number 8 Michael Wells to move back home from the Rebels.

The best is yet to come when Faingaa’s vast 63-cap Super Rugby and 25-cap Wallaby experience will change the way how the Force executes their throw-ins and driving maul come line-out time.

It could be a game changer under his watch that will provide plenty of competition across the Trans-Tasman in the hope of beating some New Zealand teams, as well as an extended shot via the Playoffs as long as they can finish Top 8 in the regular-season ladder every year.

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