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Perth billionaire proposes radical plan to save the Force

Staunch Force supporter Andrew Forrest

Perth rugby fans showed their support for their and Super Rugby team yesterday, with around 8,000 gathering at Rugby WA headquarters.

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The rally included a speech by WA mining magnate and staunch Force fan Andrew Forrest, who has been a vocal critic of the dumping. He assured those gathered that the fight had only just begun.

“This is absolutely not the end of the Western Force and not the end of rugby in Western Australia,” he said.

“If anything, the hottest fires forge the strongest metals. This will make rugby in Western Australia stronger and stronger again.”

Forrest, whose personal wealth is estimated at around $5 billion USD, also hinted at a radical proposal of starting their own pro rugby competition separate from the Australian Rugby Union.

“The ARU want to run a process that is not based on merit. If they want to run a process that is based on the lucky drawcard of where you happen to live, or where you happen to support your sport, then we will start our own international league from here.” he said.

There was no more detail about the threat of breaking away, however it is obvious that Forrest has been inspired by the pragmatic moves of the Cheetahs and Kings of South Africa in joining the European Pro 14 competition.

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Nickers 29 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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