Force coach Tim Sampson believes Ian Prior could become newest Wallaby
The Western Force coach Tim Sampson believes that if the club produces a new Wallaby this season, it might well be Ian Prior.
The Western Force have recruited a string of well-credentialed players such as Kyle Godwin, Greg Holmes, Pek Cowan and Nick Frisby, but coach Tim Sampson believes that if the club produces a new Wallaby this season, it may be homegrown captain Ian Prior.
“Homegrown” might be a mild exaggeration, given that 29-year-old Prior was born in Bundaberg and played both for his home state Queensland and the Brumbies before heading west in 2014.
There was also the season he spent with Harlequins the year after the Force were culled from Super Rugby in 2017.
But in a professional sport as transient as rugby, anyone in his sixth season with a club surely qualifies as a local.
“He is just such a good all-round player in the nine jersey and I think if he plays well, he could sneak into the Wallabies squad,” Sampson said.
Since the retirement of Will Genia, the Wallabies halfback spot is wide open. Nic White has been released from Exeter and has just arrived home from England. But he has been in isolation for a long period in the UK and now must serve a two-week quarantine in Australia before he can report for duty in Canberra.
“He will start training later in the month, but there will be no rush with him,” said Brumbies coach Dan McKellar, who must be pleased with how Joe Powell, another Wallabies contender, is performing at halfback. Certainly he was one of the Brumbies’ best in their opening win over the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday.
The leading contender for the Test spot would seem to be Tate McDermott of the Reds, who performed impressively against the Waratahs on Friday, but there is no reason why Prior, who in many ways plays a brand of football quite similar to White, will not come strongly into reckoning.
The Force will fly to Sydney on Friday ahead of their battle with NSW at the SCG on Saturday, their first match at this level since they put the Waratahs to the sword in their final Super Rugby match on July 15, 2017. Since then, the club has been playing in the National Rugby Championship and in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby, but Sampson is confident the Force have the players to make everyone, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie included, sit up and pay attention.
“In terms of players, people on the east coast might not have seen, there is a young guy we got over from Queensland in the middle of last year, Byron Ralston, a winger, who is shaping really nicely,” Sampson said.
“So too Feleti Kaitu’u, a hooker, who has had a really good year. While he is not so young, just on 30, I’m really looking forward to seeing how (No.8) Brynard Stander goes. And, of course, Ian Prior.”
It is not possible that Cowan, one of the returning veterans of 2017, will be able to play on Saturday as he completes his isolation, but Frisby could certainly come into the mix, even though he will only meet up with new teammates for the first time on Friday.
The Melbourne Rebels will be strengthened by the return of Test No.8 Isi Naisarani for their clash with the Queensland Reds at Brookvale Oval on Friday.
He will make a timely return and not just because he will be up against the main claimant to his Wallabies position, Reds backrower Harry Wilson, but because coach Dave Wessels believes the Rebels were dominated by the Brumbies in the contact area on both sides of the ball during their 31-23 loss on Saturday.
“There were positives but as a collective we weren’t happy with our intensity or our detail in the contact area,” Wessels said.
The Brumbies have the bye this weekend, time enough for hooker Folau Fainga’a to recover from his concussion and for Wallabies fullback Tom Banks, winger Solomone Kata and lock Nick Frost to return from rehab for the match in a fortnight against NSW.
Pleased that his side was able to regroup after the Rebels closed to within a point at the 69th minute and close the match out with a driving-maul try, McKellar was less than delighted that the team also conceded a driving-maul try – only the second in two years but also the second in three games.
More Coverage
Suaalii’s new position revealed ahead of Super Rugby opener
After missing NSW’s final trial match against the Brumbies a fortnight ago, Super Rugby’s highest-profile recruit has been given a positional switch for his Waratahs debut.
Axed star opens up on controversial Wallabies snubbing
Langi Gleeson was invited to be part of the Wallabies training camp – as he pushed towards a call-up against the British and Irish Lions. And then it was brutally snatched away from him.