Western Force coach Tim Sampson has called on an added physical edge in Jeremy Thrush as they look to match it with the Waratahs at Leichhardt Oval
Thrush's inclusion for Sunday's clash completes the all-International tight-five as he joins Izack Rodda in the second row, with Tom Robertson, Feleti Kaitu'u and Santiago Medrano in the front row.
After a narrow loss at home over the Reds, Sampson believes the former All Black will help them win the collision battle, which has been an area of concern in previous weeks.
“Something we were a bit disappointed in last weekend was our collision areas, our physicality,” Sampson said.
“'Thrushy' is very good in that space, he’s a player who offers a lot there and he takes other players with him. He loves to get stuck into the thick of it.
“Izack has done really well around the set-piece, the line-out work, the defensive line-out. Thrushy adds a bit more to that.
“It gives Fergus an opportunity to get back to the No. 6 jersey where he trained a lot in pre-season and put in a lot of work.”
It's easy to draw comparisons between the sides after the first three rounds, both sitting 1-2 after coming away from the Reds and Brumbies defears feeling like they should've won.
With this in mind, Sampson was focused on the basics as the welcome Bayley Kuenzle back to the starting side at inside centre.
“We let ourselves down in key fundamentals of the game, our skill execution, defence line speed,” he said.
“We were just way off in the general basics of the game. We were a bit slow to get set.
“We want to be the first to set in all areas of the game.”
