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The Lions kick off their tour of Australia this Saturday against the Western Force. With the hyper-focus on Andy Farrell’s men, let’s do something different and get educated on their opposition. Here’s everything you need to know about the Western Force:
The Force are based in Perth on the western coast of Australia. Founded in 2005, they are the youngest of the current Australian Super Rugby franchises. They have never won Super Rugby and were actually axed from the competition in 2017, only to be brought back during the pandemic in 2020 as the league went through one of its many restructurings. history
They faced the lions in the first game of the 2013 tour, where they lost 69-17. That game was renowned for Brian O’Driscoll partnering excellently with Manu Tuilagi to score a double and Leigh Halfpenny nailing 11 out of 11 shots at goal.
The match was tinged with sadness thanks to a tour ending ankle injury to Irish prop Cian Healy. Coincidentally, Healy, will be playing his last ever professional rugby match just hours after the Lions game on Saturday when he starts for the Barbarians against the Springboks in Cape Town.
Coached by Simon Cron, they were the worst performing Australian team this season with just 4 wins from 14 games, scoring 51 tries. They finished 9th out of 11 teams in the standings, with an average scoreline of 34-26 against, meaning they conceded the 2nd most points of any team in the league.
The Force’s biggest strength is their lineout and maul. They are the best at scoring maul tries of any club team in the world (Super Rugby/URC/Top14/Premiership) with 0.79 per game.
They have the 2nd best lineout success in Super Rugby and are also the best team at steaming opposition lineouts, with over 1 in 5 throws against being pilfered. Their main man at lineout time is 2nd row Darcy Swain, who registered a league topping 79 lineout takes in 14 games.
Given the Force have such a strong lineout, you might be surprised to learn their Achillies’ heel is their scrum. It’s unusual for a team to have one excellent set piece and one poor one, but the Force’s scrum is one of the worst out there.
They have the worst scrum win rate in Super Rugby and are also the worst for giving away penalties at the scrum. This is in a league renowned for its lenient officiating at scrum time, so they could really struggle against northern hemisphere opposition.
Winger Mac Grealy has been in excellent for this season. He has registered 7 try involvements and 71% gainline success from 140 carries. He also has 31% tackle evasion, 41 defenders beaten and 878 metres gained this season – all excellent stats.
Elsewhere, wing partner Harry Potter and flanker Carlo Tizzano have also registered excellent statistics this season, but they have not been released from the Wallabies squad by Joe Schmidt.
This should be a routine win for the Lions. We can expect to see the lineout struggles that were present against Argentina continue as a new pack of forwards gets to grips with each other and the dangerous Swain and Co. lie in wait to steal their ball.
A maul try from the Force is a decent bet, as is a long range try from one of the wings is. Otherwise, a repeat of the scrum dominance seen against Los Pumas and the general quality advantage across the pitch should see the Lions to a win by multiple scores. 69-17 from 2013 is the scoreline to beat!
Western Force Starting XV (1-15) Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Oli Hoskins, Sam Carter, Darcy Swain, Will Harris, Nicholas Champion de Crespigny, Vaiolini Ekuasi, Nic White, Alex Harford, Dylan Pietsch, Hamish Stewart, Matt Proctor, Mac Grealy, Ben Donaldson
Western Force Replacements (16-23) Nic Dolly, Marley Pearce, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Lopeti Faifua, Reed Prinsep, Henry Robertson, Max Burey, Bayley Kuenzle
British & Irish Lions Starting XV (1-15) Pierre Schoeman, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Finn Russell, James Lowe, Sione Tuipulotu, Garry Ringrose, Mack Hansen, Elliot Daly
British & Irish Lions Replacements (16-23) Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Alex Mitchell, Huw Jones, Marcus Smith
