Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Western Force lock Jeremy Thrush expecting Waratahs to 'come out swinging' in round three

Jeremy Thrush. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Western Force lock Jeremy Thrush expects NSW to come out swinging this Friday night, but he hopes seeds of doubt will spread among the Waratahs players during the match.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Waratahs appear set for a season of doom and gloom after copping a record 61-10 hammering at the hands of the Brumbies last Saturday, just a week after losing 41-7 to the Queensland Reds.

Making matters worse is the fact that captain Jake Gordon will miss at least another month of action due to a serious ankle injury.

Video Spacer

Jeremy Thrush Western Force interview

Video Spacer

Jeremy Thrush Western Force interview

The Force will be aiming to notch their first win of the season when they take on the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday.

Thrush said his team would be on guard for a fierce Waratahs backlash but he also sees an area of vulnerability that could be exposed.

“I’ve been in the shoes of the Waratahs before,” Thrush said.

“If you have a few losses, you are doing everything to right those wrongs and put in a good performance. They’re going to come out swinging. We’ve got to combat that.

ADVERTISEMENT

“If we can just keep applying pressure, it doesn’t matter how much you try sometimes that doubt can creep back in.

“So if we can keep applying pressure, hopefully we can get on top of them and get our game going.”

The Force are on a mission of redemption themselves after following up last year’s winless campaign with a 27-11 loss to the Brumbies in this year’s season opener.

Thrush and his teammates were left to stew on that result during last week’s bye, and they are ready to right the wrongs this Friday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

“When the boys got off the field there was frustration in the way we didn’t fire as many shots as we wanted to,” Thrush said.

“And then having to sit and watch all week, and not be able to go again and fix the wrongs … having to wait two weeks to have that crack again has been frustrating.

“Hopefully we can use that energy against the Waratahs and get the win.”

Meanwhile, the Force have signed 22-year-old English back Jordan Olowofela on a one-year deal.

Olowofela, who can play at centre and on the wing, joins the Force from English Premiership side Leicester Tigers.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

307 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Let's be real about these All Blacks Let's be real about these All Blacks
Search