Western Force keep upstaging their big brothers in Super Rugby

Any lingering feelings of superiority the Reds might entertain ahead of the first clash with the Force in three years should be suppressed.

Force prop Greg Holmes was in the Reds side that won the 2011 Super Rugby title.

For a long while, any time the Reds played the Western Force it was almost Queensland 1 v Queensland 2, but any lingering feelings of superiority Liam Wright’s side might be entertaining ahead of the first clash with the Perth team in three years should be well suppressed.

They have not met since the Force was culled from Super Rugby in 2017 yet any time West Australian rugby supporters pondered on the fairness of that decision – which they did at length – their sense of injustice was always fuelled by their record against Queensland. In 18 meetings with the Reds, from their debut year of 2006 through to their farewell season, they had lost only eight times. Moreover, they had won – still have won – eight of their last 10 clashes.

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Complicating relations even further was the fact that they were mainly beating Queensland with its own players. When the Force was going about assembling its squad in 2006, it gave an assurance that it would only approach players from other Australian franchises when they happened to have their bye. As it happened, Queensland was the first team to have a weekend off that year and Force coach John Mitchell and inaugural CEO Peter O’Meara, himself a Queenslander, descended on the Reds like the Mongol hordes.

By the time they were finished, there was scarcely a man standing – at least not in a red jersey. From captain Nathan Sharpe down, at least half the Queensland team morphed into West Australians. And seemingly every year they saved their best performance for their home state.

Tonight it will be no different, with the Force expertly led by their halves, Ian Prior and Jonno Lance, both honour graduates from the Reds system. There is Greg Holmes, who just happened to be the most capped player in Queensland history – except now he is returning as the Force tighthead. All three were in the Queensland side that won the 2011 Super Rugby title. There are a further five players in the match-day 23, not to mention head coach Tim Sampson and forwards coach Van Humphries.

In all there are about 15 members of the Force squad with close links to Queensland, but the one Reds coach Brad Thorn most fondly recalled was Lance. “When he comes to play our side, I hope he feels a sense of pride, because he helped build this,” said Thorn. “They’ll all be motivated and determined. I imagine there will be smiles and handshakes after the game but I imagine it will be fiercely-contested …. that’s what we expect.”

Prior is expecting much the same. “They’re coached by a guy who prided himself on energy and physicality and they have a good youthful team, a good group of young players, who are developing well,” Prior said.

But he admits it is an honour for him to lead out a team which, whatever its origins, has done WA proud through three dark years for rugby. “It feels like a great reward for a lot of people who sacrificed a lot to make that call to stick around and invest in that story, probably above their own careers,” he said. “It’s something pretty great to be a part of.”

It is fair to say that Brumbies coach Dan McKellar is giving his players no room for excuses having to bus it from Canberra to Sydney and return for tomorrow’s clash with the Waratahs at ANZ Stadium. “As I said to the boys on Monday, as 10, 11, 12-year-olds, we used to do it all the time,” McKellar said. “Mum and Dad pack up the car and off you go to play rugby league or union or whatever and you just got excited about it. It’s the NSW Waratahs. We’d walk up there if we had to.”

McKellar has made only one change, but a significant one, with Tom Banks returning from a foot injury to take over from the promising Mack Hansen at fullback. The Waratahs, however, have rewarded well-performing Test campaigners Karmichael Hunt (inside centre), Jack Dempsey (number eight) and loosehead Tom Robertson with places in the starting side.