Show your Force in blue but don’t boycott the Wallabies, Cheika urges upset West Australians

MICHAEL Cheika hopes angry fans in Western Australia won’t boycott the Wallabies in Perth and said he likes the idea of people wearing blue jerseys to show their support for the Western Force.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika hopes fans in Perth will get behind Australia next month.

MICHAEL Cheika hopes angry fans in Western Australia won’t boycott the Wallabies in Perth next month and said he likes the idea of people wearing blue jerseys to show their support for the Western Force.

The ARU’s decision to axe the Force last week has left many in the west fuming, and large numbers have indicated they’ll protest by not attending the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship clash with the Springboks at nib Stadium on September 9.

Rugby WA president Hans Sauer told the Sunday Telegraph there would be a “massive boycott” but said he’d urged angry Force fans to still attend but in their blue Force supporters’ kit.

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Attending a junior gala day in Penrith on Sunday, Western Force players in the Wallabies squad weren’t willing to talk about the issue given the Force are still looking into legal options.

But Cheika said he hoped angry Force fans would not turn their back on an Aussie team containing their hometown heroes.

“I hope that type of backlash doesn’t come, because their own players will be out there as well, representing Australia,” Cheika said.

“As the national team, we have players from all states, all places and a strong contingent of players from the Western Force.

“I believe in our Australian sporting tradition of supporting our national teams, fans will come out. That’s what Aussies are good at, I really believe that.

“I would say wearing the blue jerseys, that could be a great thing. And hopefully some gold ones as well.

“I understand why they would want to do that.

“For us, what we want to show to those people, from a Wallabies point of view, is best done by going over there and playing a great game of footy and entertaining them and making them proud to be Australian.”

The Wallabies taking on Argentina in Perth last season.

Cheika hinted as frustration with the ARU’s Super Rugby downsizing saga in June when a small crowd attended the Wallabies’ Test against Fiji in Melbourne. The Rebels were under threat at the time and fans openly said they’d boycotted the game.

Crowd support shapes as an issue this week, with forecasts of the smallest Bledisloe crowd in Sydney in years.

“There’s no doubt that when you play Test football, you want to go out and see a stadium full of your people,” Cheika said.

“We want Australians to support us. We need it. The support of a crowd at the game is a massive weapon. It can affect everything,” Cheika said.

The Wallabies’ Force players had anticipated last week’s decision to drop in the middle of Bledisloe preparations so Cheika said he didn’t believe it could be a distraction this week.

The bigger concern of the Force news, said Cheika, was about ensuring hurt WA rugby people don’t leave the game.

“I really believe Australian rugby has a huge network of fans and volunteers etc. And the (Force) players as well, when you talk to them, they’re the people they’re feeling for. That’s hard to take,” Cheika said.

Investing more time and effort in recruitment and talent ID in WA would be required, said Cheika.

“The harder thing will be making sure the fans, who are the parents now of the young kids of the future, stay loving rugby,” he said.

“So that their kids … they see the gold jersey and see rugby in their house and makes them want to go and play the game.”

Cheika dismissed concerns about Kurtley Beale’s availability for the opening Bledisloe Cup, saying he’d overcome a hamstring injury first suffered in May in England.

Samu Kerevi (chest) also fit to play, but there is some doubt about Dane Haylett-Petty (elbow).