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They concede they’re not playing for a Super 14 finals berth any more, so Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe says this weekend his team will get back to playing for each other.
Coming off painful back-to-back defeats by Australian rivals, and a bye that came at least a week too late for the battered squad, the Force will aim to put a dent in the fourth-placed Chiefs’ franchise-record five-match winning streak at Subiaco tomorrow.
And although Force personnel will be much altered, Sharpe said the team needed to get back to the “all for one, one for all philosophy” which works well on the road but seems to disappear when back in Perth.
“This team plays for each other and the disappointing thing about the Reds game was that we didn’t play for each other,” Sharpe said.
“The way rugby is going at the moment, quite a lot of it comes down to how you front up mentally.
“If we can do that, set plays and pieces aren’t quite as important in this new style of rugby, so if the guys turn up with the right attitude we should play well.”
Attitude has been the buzz word around the Force camp this week, with coach John Mitchell ruthless in his assessment of his 9,10,12 combination against the Reds, along with his prop AJ Whalley.
Scrumhalf Chris O’Young finds himself on the bench, and Lachlan Mackay and Scott Staniforth out of the squad altogether, the latter through injury, while significantly Matt Giteau returns from his bout of concussion to run the show from five eighth.
With David Pusey and Matt Hodgson changes in the pack, Sharpe said with opportunity should come enthusiasm.
“We had been pretty lucky up to this stage with injuries but we have been hit hard the last two weeks, which is unusual coming off the bye,” Sharpe said.
“The good thing is that we have plenty of experience coming in and they will be enthusiastic.”
The Force will need more than just spirit to get close to a Chiefs side peaking powerfully at the business end of the season, and with prop Simms Davison and centre Callum Bruce back in their line-up.
Having scored 174 points on the five match winning streak, the Chiefs’ also have good memories of racking up 64-points against the Force last season, a fact Sharpe said had not been forgotten.
“Both teams have an attacking philosophy, but our defence wasn’t up to scratch against them last year,” Sharpe said
“That’s something we have to work hard on because they do have the ability to score a lot of tries, so if we can shut them down and make the most of our opportunities, we’ll have a good night.”
And despite the Force’s rejigged line-up, coach Ian Foster – a former teammate of Mitchell’s at Waikato – noted how the former All Black coach seemed to able to raise his Australian charges for clashes with New Zealand sides.
“They have beaten the Highlanders, beaten the Blues and just lost to the Crusaders so I think there is a very clear message that they rise to the New Zealand teams and I expect no different,” Foster said this week
“They have their own style and it’s one that has been really effective for them, especially at the start of this campaign.”
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