Western Force


The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia. The team competes in Global Rapid Rugby, Australia's National Rugby Championship and in the Australian Rugby Union’s revamped domestic Super Rugby AU competition for 2020.
The Force were invited to participate in the 2020 domestic Super Rugby competition, after the ARU backflipped on a previous decision to axe them 2 years earlier. The Force were one of the most financially stable of all the clubs prior to the ARU decision. The Force previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 to 2017. As the fourth Australian franchise to join the competition, the Force played for twelve seasons in Super Rugby, with their highest finish being seventh place. In 2017, the Australian Rugby Union reduced the number of Australian Super Rugby teams, and the Western Force lost their licence to participate in the competition at the end of that season.

History

The bid

The bid for entry into an expanded Super 12 competition started in the early 2000s, when in 2002, a group was formed to oversee developments in the push for a new Australian franchise. The group's objective was to ensure that if SANZAR agreed to a fourth Australian franchise, that RugbyWA would be ready. RugbyWA were invited to bid for the fourth Australian team, and the union assembled a project team, which was given four weeks to formulate their bid. The bid was backed by the state government, which loaned more than one million dollars to RugbyWA, as well as committing $25 million towards an upgrade of the Members Equity Stadium. It was announced in December 2004 that RugbyWA had beaten Rugby Union Victoria for the right to host the fourth Australian franchise.

The first season

On 10 February the Western Force made their 2006 season rugby debut against the Brumbies at a near sold out Subiaco Oval in Perth, losing 25–10. Since this result, the Force have had a difficult debut in Super 14. A one-sided loss to the Hurricanes and an ugly loss at home to the Chiefs in Perth followed. Many fans were unimpressed, with only approximately 23,000 turning up to watch a match against the Bulls. On 31 March, in front of 24,000, the Force came closest to their first win, losing 26–25 to the Stormers at Subiaco Oval. This was after leading 10–0 early on in the match. This was the Force's first competition point ever, and is the longest it has ever taken a side to get a point in Super rugby history.
On 21 April a crowd of 32,231 saw the Force nearly pull off the upset of the year, drawing 23-all with the undefeated defending champion Crusaders. Though the Force were leading 7–0 after several minutes the feeling was still that the Crusaders would win, especially after they scored a try seconds later to make it 7–5. Only when the Force had blown the score out to 17–5 did anyone begin to talk of an upset. Leading 20–8 at half time the Force did not hold on for the win after the Crusaders scored two tries and a penalty within the closing half. At 23-all with seconds left the Force crashed over the line but were denied by the television match official.
Two days after the draw with the Crusaders, the Force were able to sign rising star Matt Giteau from the Brumbies, effective with the 2007 season. Giteau, whose contract with the Brumbies ended after the 2006 season, inked a three-year deal reportedly worth A$4.5 million, making him the highest-paid player in the history of any Australian football code.
On Saturday 6 May the Force announced they had managed to sign another player, Reds winger Drew Mitchell. However, during the same week the Force were fined $110,000 after an "independent committee found that Rugby WA had entered a negotiation process with Al Kanaar in a way that was contrary to and in breach of the contracting protocols." The Force notched up their first win by defeating the Cheetahs 16–14 on 6 May.

Indo Pacific Rugby Championship

Following SANZAAR's decision to reduce the number of Super Rugby teams for 2018, the Australian Rugby Union announced in August 2017 that the Force would be one of the teams cut from the 2018 competition. In September 2017, Force owner Andrew Forrest launched the Indo Pacific Rugby Championship, a tournament set to start in March 2019 which will consist of the Western Force and five other teams from the Indo-Pacific region. Several countries – such as, and – have already expressed an interest in joining the new competition.
The team has announced a series of matches for 2018 as part of the World Series Rugby, that will include playing Fiji on 4 May, Tonga on 13 May, before embarking on games against the Melbourne Rebels and the Crusaders later in the year, as precursors to the National Rugby Championship.
For 2019, the Western Force will play at the rebranded Global Rapid Rugby, facing teams from Fiji, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Samoa and Singapore.
In 2020, as a result of COVID-19 the regular Super Rugby was cancelled. However a domestic competition, Super Rugby Australia, was organised and the Western Force were included along with the existing four Super Rugby teams.

Name and colours

On 19 April, RugbyWA unveiled the franchise team name as well as the logo, at a reception at the Burswood International Resort in Perth. Months of detailed community involvement went into selecting the name for the team. 'Western Force' was chosen as the name, which best reflected the franchise's location and its 'values of strength, energy and community'. The logo was unveiled to be a black swan, which is the state's traditional insignia. The swan is set in a blue background, representing the Western Australia coastline and sky, whilst the gold represented the beaches, mineral wealth and sunshine. Some speculated that the team was going to be called the 'Black Swans'.
In July at function at the same venue as where the logo was unveiled to the public, the Force's jersey and naming rights sponsor was revealed. The home jersey was unveiled on Brendan Cannon, being blue with a black swan. Lachlan MacKay emerged with the side's alternate strip, which was gold with a black swan; black and gold being the State colours of Western Australia. The team's first jersey was auctioned off for $30,000, and the first alternate strip was then also auctioned off for $30,000 as well.

Logo

In March 2018, a new renewed Western Force changed their logo and jersey. The logo was very similar to the previous logo, this came after being axed from their most recent season of Super Rugby.

Support

Shortly after RugbyWA won the fourth Australian franchise, an on-line register was set up for members to record their interest. In the space of weeks, 10,000 people had registered. When membership was officially launched in July, more than 13,000 were registered, with around 400 companies expressed interest in hospitality packages. Soon the Force had the largest membership base of any of the Australian Super 14 teams. By the time pre-season had started, the Force had 16,000 members.
Australian Rugby Union CEO Gary Flowers told the media that "people power" was a key factor in Western Australia being awarded the franchise ahead of Victoria. Prior to the announcement, more than 25,500 Western Australians signed a petition in support of their state's bid. In addition, 5,000 people, including the state's premier Dr Geoff Gallop, attended a rally at Subiaco Oval, organised by two rugby mothers "the Scrum Mums" to show how much the people of Western Australia wanted the franchise. By the end of the first season, the Force finished with the highest crowd average out of all the Australian teams, despite finishing in last place, the fans still came out to see Wallaby stars such as Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Nathan Sharpe.

Stadium

For the first four seasons, the Force played all of their home games at Subiaco Oval. The stadium had a capacity of 43,500 configured in an oval shape for Australian rules football.
The club moved to the Perth Oval for the 2010 season and, with association football club Perth Glory, pushed for an upgrade to the venue which would create a rectangular venue for the two clubs. As of 2019, the stadium is known as HBF Park after WA’s biggest health insurer took over naming rights at Perth’s home of soccer and rugby. The Force were given a limited grant by the government to improve facilities at the stadium, and the capacity was increased to 20,500 in time for the 2010 Super Rugby Season.
Between 2010 and 2011 the State government developed a masterplan for an improved rectangular stadium and then completed a business case which saw $88million dollars allocated to the first stage which was to include a new permanent East stand, new lights, two video replay boards, LED signage at pitch level, replacement of the playing surface and replacement of the south scaffold stand with new scaffold. A Project Definition Plan was then completed and following this, the government allocated a further $7.14million to add corporate amenity including 48 corporate boxes and a 250-seat BBQ deck to the new Eastern stand.
In June 2012 builder BGC were awarded the head building contract for the project and on 7 June 2012 the Minister for Sport and Recreation Terry Waldron MLA announced that hard work by the project team, led by the Department of Sport and Recreation, and a keen price by builders would enable the south stand to become a permanent, unroofed structure rather than new scaffold. It was completed in September 2013, with a capacity of 20,441.

Development teams

RugbyWA's two elite development squads just below full-time professional level are the Western Force A and WA Under 19 teams. These teams are closely aligned with the Western Force and train at McGillvray Oval, the training base used by the Force. RugbyWA also previously fielded a separate National Rugby Championship team, the Perth Spirit, until the end of season 2017 but competed in this tournament as the Western Force from 2018. From 2019 the Development Team, Perth Gold, competes in Emerging State Championship.

Western Force A

The Western Force A team plays matches against interstate and international representative teams, and has also competed in tournaments such as the Pacific Rugby Cup. Teams known by various names over the years including Western Force A, Western Force Gold and Force Academy have been selected from the best emerging rugby talent in Western Australia. The current squad is a mix of Western Force contracted players, Force Academy players from elite youth programs, and selected Premier Grade club rugby players.
In 2006 the Western Force Gold, playing in the traditional gold and black colours of Western Australia, undertook a two-week tour to South Africa. The team played the Golden Lions and Blue Bulls before returning home to Perth to play Manu Samoa and Japanese Top League teams Toshiba and Yamaha. In 2008, the Force Academy beat the Singapore national side by 113–7.
The Western Force under 19 side plays in the URC competition. Western Australian teams played in the Southern States Tournament up until 2015 and also played occasional matches against other representative sides such as Pacific Rugby Cup teams. Prior to 2008, state colts teams at under 21 and under 19 age levels were fielded in national tournament but these teams were consolidated as under 20s ahead of the inaugural World Rugby U20 Championship. In 2018, an under 19 age limit was reinstated for the state colts teams.

Season positions

Super Rugby

National Rugby Championship

Global Rapid Rugby

Notes:

Summary of all matches in the 2019 Global Rapid Rugby season, including the Asia and Pacific showcases.

Honours

Notes:

Western Force won both the Asia and Pacific showcases in an undefeated 2019 Global Rapid Rugby season.

Squad

The squad for the 2020 season is:

Coaches

Super 14 and Super Rugby eras

Individual records

Most appearances

#PlayerCapsSpan
1.Matt Hodgson1402006–2017
2.Pek Cowan1292006–2017
3.Nathan Sharpe922006–2012
4.Sam Wykes872008–2015
5.Nick Cummins872008–2015

Most points

#PlayerPtsSpan
1.Cameron Shepherd3702006–2012
2.James O'Connor3062008–2011
3.Matt Giteau2932007–2009

Most tries

#PlayerTriesSpan
1.Cameron Shepherd302006–2012
2.Scott Staniforth182006–2010
3.Nick Cummins172008–2015
4.Matt Hodgson162006–2017
5.Ryan Cross152007–2010

Most points in a season

#PlayerPtsYear
1.James O'Connor1702011
2.Matt Giteau1282009
3.Cameron Shepherd1212006
4.Sias Ebersohn1172014
5.Cameron Shepherd1152007

Most tries in a season

TriesPlayerYear
9Scott Staniforth2006
7Cameron Shepherd2006
7Cameron Shepherd2007
7Cameron Shepherd2009
7Nick Cummins2014
6Matt Hodgson2014
5Scott Staniforth2009
5David Smith2011
5Luke Morahan2015
5Alex Newsome2017

Most points in a match

#PlayerPtsOppositionYear
1.Cameron Shepherd25Bulls2007
2.Cameron Shepherd23Reds2007
3.Matt Giteau21Chiefs2007
4.Matt Giteau20Lions2009
4.James O'Connor20Reds2011
4.David Harvey20Reds2012
5.Peter Grant182017

Most tries in a match

TriesPlayerOppositionYear
3Scott StaniforthLions2006
3Cameron ShepherdBrumbies2009
3Nick CumminsWaratahs2014

Firsts

In November 2007, Western Force players Scott Fava and Richard Brown were fined and ordered to do community service for mistreating protected native quokkas at a team bonding session on Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth.
Eye-witness accounts stated that the players had mishandled the animals, including trapping and throwing them, though none were known to be seriously injured. Alcohol was said to be a factor.
As a result of the actions, Australian Wallaby number 8 Fava was ordered to pay $11,000, attend a week of community service and undergo counselling for alcohol abuse, while flanker Richard Brown was sentenced to a $5000 fine as well as seven days' community service. Both fines were payable to the Rottnest Island Conservation Foundation.
In February 2008, Matt Henjak and Haig Sare were involved in a fight at a pub in Perth. Henjak hit Sare and broke his jaw and was sacked by the Force for misconduct. Haig Sare returned to play for the Force at the end of Season 2008 once his injuries healed.

Firepower funding debacle

Sponsorship payments from the fuel technology company Firepower were a major factor in luring Wallaby star Matt Giteau and others to play for the Western Force in Perth. The luckless Giteau was one of a number of sportsmen owed millions of dollars after the collapse of Firepower.
A new consortium offered to cover the Firepower money if Giteau extended his existing contract, however he chose not to, and returned to Canberra to play for the Brumbies.

Women's team

The RugbyWA Women, previously known as the Western Force Women, play in the Super W competition. The Super W was first played in 2018 and is the top-level 15-a-side competition for women's rugby teams in Australia.
On 6 February 2020, the squad for the 2020 season was announced.

Season standings

Super W