Mitchell defends tour decision
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:42
Josh Tatupu will take the place of Caleb Brown on the wing when the Western Force play Guinness Premiership club Northampton Saints on Saturday, the fourth match on their six-game tour of England.
Coach John Mitchell was forced to delay his team announcement by 24 hours, after Brown became the fourth player to be ruled out of the trip - injuring a hamstring at a training session on Wednesday.
Brown joins Scott Staniforth (knee), Sam Wykes (shoulder) and James Dougall (hand fracture) on the sidelines.
Tatupu has been named on Brown's right wing, while former Sydney Fleet and Australian Under-19 wing Andrew Barrett joins the replacement bench.
Barrett was flown in to join the squad this week after local outside back Dougall was forced to return home.
There are three more changes to the starting lineup following last week's 10-19 defeat to Saracens in St Albans.
Gareth Hardy returns at loosehead prop, while Brent Murphy earns an opportunity to start alongside Pat O'Connor at lock.
Murphy, from the Perth-Bayswater club in West Australia, impressed in his starting debut against the Saracens Academy last week and followed it up with a strong showing from the bench in the clash with Saracens' first team last Saturday.
The team's leading try-scorer on tour, Junior Pelesasa, also returns to the starting XV at outside centre.
Mitchell said the tour had been a worthwhile experience despite losing four players to injury.
"Two of our injuries [Wykes and Brown] have occurred during training sessions so they could have happened at any time," said Mitchell.
"It's just the nature of the game that you are going to have injuries from time to time. Overall I've been delighted with the way the team has conducted itself and the tour will prove to be very beneficial for the team going forward."
Mitchell said his side will face a strong test against the newly-promoted Saints.
"We're anticipating a full strength Northampton team to run out tomorrow [Saturday], which will provide us with yet another good test for our young squad," he said.
"The brand of football we have played on this tour has been very positive. We've seen some young players come through and put their hand up to remain with the squad for the Super 14 season," he said.
"We've also worked on developing the leadership of our senior players and they have responded well with the extra responsibility."
Northampton is expected to run out with former All Blacks flyhalf Carlos Spencer in their starting line-up.
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Josh Tatupu, 13 Junior Pelesasa, 12 Scott Daruda, 11 Haig Sare, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Chris O'Young, 8 Tamaiti Horua, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Pat O'Connor, 4 Brent Murphy, 3 AJ Whalley, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes,
17 Troy Takiari, 18 Valeni Tia Tia, 19 Filipe Manu, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Andrew Barrett, 22 Dion Berryman.
Date: Saturday, August 23
Venue: Franklin's Gardens, Northampton
Kick-off: 13.30 (12.30 GMT - 20.30 West Australian Time)
Referee: Chris White
Touch judges: Paul Dix, Greg Garner
