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Western Force continue raid on Brumbies by signing three players for 2022 Super Rugby season

Photo: Jeremy Ward / www.photosport.nz

The Western Force’s raid on the Brumbies’ playing stocks has continued, with the Perth-based franchise snaring three more players on Tuesday.

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Just 24 hours after signing Perth-raised flyhalf Reesjan Pasitoa from the Brumbies, the Force announced they have also lured Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Bayley Kuenzle and Reece Tapine on two-year deals.

It continues a recent trend of players crossing from the Brumbies to the Force, with the Canberra-based franchise losing Toni Pulu and Tevita Kuridrani ahead of the 2021 season.

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Kuenzle, who made his Super Rugby debut in round two last year against the Melbourne Rebels, is a 22-year-old rising star who can line up at either flyhalf or inside centre.

“I’d love to play for the Wallabies,” Kuenzle said.

“Hopefully, I can experience some regular game time and enjoy a strong season to earn that chance to play for Australia.”

Fines returns to Western Australia after spending the past two seasons at the Brumbies, which included winning the Super Rugby AU title in 2020.

The 25-year-old played a vital part in the Force’s NRC title triumph in 2019, and is looking to take his game to the next level.

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“You’ve seen how well the club has done this year and I’m really keen to get amongst it to keep building on that,” Fines said.

“I’m coming to the Force for a great opportunity. I want to play some consistent rugby and be around such a great club.

“WA rugby gave me my first chance in a professional environment, so I can’t wait to give back to them.”

Tapine, 21, is yet to make his Super debut and can play at either outside centre or the wing.

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“It’s fantastic to be able to attract young players of such great ability to the Force,” Force head of rugby Matt Hodgson said.

“Issak is an exceptional player and person who knows the club really well having spent a couple of years with us previously.

“He’s shown his creative prowess on the Super Rugby stage now and it’s great to have him back.

“Bayley is another player who has showcased his strengths on the big stage over the past two seasons and is sure to excite the fans with his running game and skills with the ball in hand.

“Reece has great potential and will provide pace and athleticism to the squad.”

The signing spree helps offset the loss of a glut of key Force players from this season, which includes Rob Kearney, Tomas Cubelli, Domingo Miotti, and Jordan Olowofela.

The Force announced earlier this year that they had signed former Reds lock Izack Rodda for the 2022 campaign.

Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:

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J
JW 24 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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LONG READ Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones
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