Western Force name squad for tour of South Africa, including ex-Reds winger Mac Grealy and new signings

A coaching change, a high-profile trialist and several new signings highlight the Western Force’s 30-man squad for their upcoming three-game spring tour of South Africa. The Force will head west to face familiar foes the Cheetahs, an emerging Ireland side and a Western Provincial representative team in early October. And it will be backs coach Will Egglestone leading the Force from the sidelines, with head coach Simon Cron still heading to South Africa, but taking a backseat to allow his assistant to take the reins. “The big thing for us is, how do we grow under our roof? Making sure that we’ve got people that are getting challenged and have new experiences,” Cron told The West Australian. “In New Zealand, you have all the National Provincial Championship coaches, they get to coach a 10-week block of NPC, and it’s really important in their development. “Last year we were talking about doing the same thing with the South African tour, just we had a lot of work to do on our squad list at the time and had a lot of academy players travel over, so I took that one. “But now it’s a really good opportunity for Will to challenge himself. It’s a six-week program, four weeks of training into two weeks of games.” Among the new faces on the tour will be Queensland Reds flier Mac Grealy, who is trialling with the Force, while new recruits Darcy Swain, Nic Dolly and Nick Champion de Crespigny will all travel with the squad. Harry Potter and Tom Robertson will also return from injury and study sabbatical respectively on the tour, while two WA academy products are also among the squad in the form of young flanker Dane Sawers and outside back Justin Landman. Recently re-signed loose forward Reed Prinsep will captain the Force in South Africa, with former Wallabies lock Sam Carter and emerging scrum-half Henry Robertson as vice-captains. “It’s absolutely critical for long-term success for us that we have stronger leadership groups and up-and-coming leaders,” Cron said. “Last year we did that mid-tier leadership group and out of that, we got Jeremy Williams as the Super Rugby captain for the season. “Each of the players that go away on this tour will have opportunities to lead at some point in different ways in the leadership group. Grealy, who started 11 games for the Reds on the wing last season, is the most well-known of the trialists along with former Highlanders centre Sio Tomkinson. Outside back Isaac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (the brother of Highlanders back Jacob), Shute Shield standout stand-off Coby Miln and tighthead prop Silafono Titiuti will also tour with the Force. The Force’s contingent of Wallabies will not be available, while Bayley Kuenzle (knee), Reesjan Pasitoa (shoulder), Atu Moli (hip) and Kane Koteka (hamstring) will all miss. However, new signings Divad Palu and Josh Thompson have been named alongside several Force regulars, such as Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Tom Horton, Will Harris, Harry Hoopert, Marley Pearce, Max Burey and George Poolman. The travelling party will fly out of Perth on Wednesday September 25, but the team will warm up for the tour with a game against Perth Gold at UWA Sports Park at 2.30pm on Saturday. Stan Sport will stream the two Toyota Challenge games in Bloemfontein before the behind-closed-doors clash with the DHL WP XV in Stellenbosch. Western Force spring series tour squad Forwards: Albert Alcock, Sam Carter (vc), Nick Champion de Crespigny, Nic Dolly, Lopeti Faifua, Will Harris, Harry Hoopert, Tom Horton, Titi Nofoagatotoa, Marley Pearce, Reed Prinsep (c), Tom Robertson, Dane Sawers, Darcy Swain, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Josh Thompson, Silafono Titiuti. Backs: Max Burey, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Mac Grealy, Justin Landman, Ronan Leahy, Coby Miln, Divad Palu, Doug Philipson, George Poolman, Harry Potter, Isaac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Henry Robertson (vc), Patelesio Tomkinson. Western Force spring series tour matches Thursday, October 3 1am WST: Cheetahs vs Western Force, Bloemfontein (Stan Sport) Sunday, October 6 7pm WST: Emerging Ireland vs Western Force, Bloemfontein (Stan Sport) Saturday, October 12 9pm WST: DHL WP XV vs Western Force, Stellenbosch (behind closed doors)