Fijian Drua v Western Force Saturday 17 May 2025
- Thread starter Tazzmania
- Start date
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Lautoka on a Sat'dy arvo, eh. Sounds like fun.
The Ghost of Raelene
Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Still going for the Poolman experience I see.
Leahy is gonna look great in Brumbies kit soon.
Leahy is gonna look great in Brumbies kit soon.
Tazzmania
Jim Clark (26)
Western Force team list
Starting XV; Ryan Coxon, Nic Dolly, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams (c), Darcy Swain, Will Harris, Kane Koteka, Reed Prinsep; Henry Robertson, Alex Harford, Mac Grealy, Reesjan Pasitoa, Sio Tomkinson, Bayley Kuenzle, Kurtley Beale
Reserves; Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Atu Moli, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Sam Carter, Titi Nofoagatotoa, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Ben Donaldson, George Poolman
Unavailable list
Nick Champion de Crespigny (head injury protocols)
Vaiolini Ekuasi (shoulder)
Lopeti Faifua (calf)
Harry Johnson-Holmes (knee)
Harry Hoopert (knee)
Divad Palu (shoulder)
Marley Pearce (shoulder)
Dylan Pietsch (quad)
Matt Proctor (shoulder)
Carlo Tizzano (pectoral)
Starting XV; Ryan Coxon, Nic Dolly, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams (c), Darcy Swain, Will Harris, Kane Koteka, Reed Prinsep; Henry Robertson, Alex Harford, Mac Grealy, Reesjan Pasitoa, Sio Tomkinson, Bayley Kuenzle, Kurtley Beale
Reserves; Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Atu Moli, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Sam Carter, Titi Nofoagatotoa, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Ben Donaldson, George Poolman
Unavailable list
Nick Champion de Crespigny (head injury protocols)
Vaiolini Ekuasi (shoulder)
Lopeti Faifua (calf)
Harry Johnson-Holmes (knee)
Harry Hoopert (knee)
Divad Palu (shoulder)
Marley Pearce (shoulder)
Dylan Pietsch (quad)
Matt Proctor (shoulder)
Carlo Tizzano (pectoral)
Wilson
John Eales (66)
Harford is out of the NPC and came in on injury cover. I assume they've benched Donaldson (and rested others) to stay fresh for the tahs next week, but it's wild that they also skipped over Burey, Pasitoa, Kuenzle and Stewart before going to a ring in 10.
Tazzmania
Jim Clark (26)
Stewart has had a huge workload this year and understable that he is being given some recovery time. Pasitoa is now seen as a centre and Kuenzle as a centre / wing.
I suspect that Leon McDonald has something to do with bringing in Harford as he is with Auckland in the NPC after being with Canterbury previously.
Miln was the other option, however his cameo for the Force and the times he played on the South African tour if I recall correctly most of the time was at full back.
Burey is hard one to put my finger on, I suspect his tackle success rate of 68% against what will be plenty runners coming at us all day probably counted against him. Also his kick sucess rate (conv +pen) of 5/8 and his average 28 metres per kick metres may have also been the tipping point.
I suspect that Leon McDonald has something to do with bringing in Harford as he is with Auckland in the NPC after being with Canterbury previously.
Miln was the other option, however his cameo for the Force and the times he played on the South African tour if I recall correctly most of the time was at full back.
Burey is hard one to put my finger on, I suspect his tackle success rate of 68% against what will be plenty runners coming at us all day probably counted against him. Also his kick sucess rate (conv +pen) of 5/8 and his average 28 metres per kick metres may have also been the tipping point.
Last edited:
The Ghost of Raelene
Nick Farr-Jones (63)
I get it and also the fact they are still trying to win this but if you want to pump the Tahs at home and get some rest in your guys like Donaldson leave him at home and not stick him on the flights to Fiji from Perth.
Jimmy_Crouch
Peter Johnson (47)
The path to beating the Drua in Fiji has been shown. It is early impact from an experienced bench.