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Western Force's Super Rugby cull up for senate debate

Super Rugby side Western Force

Western Force’s controversial axing from Super Rugby could be the subject of an inquiry from the Australian Senate.

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The Force lost a Supreme Court appeal on Tuesday against the Australian Rugby Union’s (ARU) decision to drop them from the Southern Hemisphere competition – which has been cut from 18 to 15 teams for next season.

Billionaire backer Andrew Forrest has claimed that the Force could become the centre of a brand-new Indo-Pacific competition, but the matter is yet to be closed.

Western Australia Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has called for a thorough examination of the process which led to the Force being culled, claiming that their removal from the competition will have a negative impact on Australian rugby as a whole.

“Having a look at the lack of transparency in the decision-making process of how they ended up picking Western Force to go, clearly indicates to me that there is something deeply troublesome in the heart of the ARU,” she said.

“We’ve heard variously that it was about money, about the number of teams.

“I’ve talked to my West Australian colleagues from across the chamber, and we are resolute in having this Senate inquiry to get the facts out because the people of Western Australia deserve it.

“Not only do they deserve answers, but the taxpayers of Western Australia have paid $120 million to support the team on the understanding we would have the team until at least 2020.”

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Nickers 26 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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