KEY POINTS:
There will be no shortage of interested parties with their eyes on 17-year-old Western Force prodigy James O'Connor when he trots out against the Chiefs tonight in Perth.
O'Connor - tagged the next Matt Giteau by scouts and teammates alike thanks to his silky passing skills and ability to take a gap - qualifies to play for all three Sanzar nations. Raised on the Gold Coast by a Kiwi father and South African mother, O'Connor is also being closely watched by a host of league clubs.
A schoolboy league star, he was signed to a scholarship by Parramatta at 14. He was, however, rejected by Brisbane Broncos for being too small and eventually switched to union, representing Queensland and Australia at junior levels.
His presumably still-growing 1.8m and 83kg frame suggest predictions by Broncos talent spotter Cyril Connell he would never be big enough were well wide of the mark. The Broncos realised their mistake, but by then O'Connor had signed with the Force, for whom he debuted off the bench against the Reds in round 10.
Boy Wonder or not, O'Connor is sure to be a target for the on-song Chiefs backline tonight when he starts outside Giteau at second five-eighths.
Chiefs coach Ian Foster, who has recalled second five-eighths Callum Bruce in place of Dwayne Sweeney and rested prop Ben Castle in the only changes to the team that beat the Reds last week, declined to publicly declare O'Connor a target.
"To be honest we haven't even talked about it," Foster said. "We don't know much about him and quite frankly it doesn't change much from our perspective."
Force coach John Mitchell has opted to give youth a chance, with 20-year-old lock Sam Wykes and inexperienced halfback James Stannard also named in his run-on side. The return from injury of Giteau and wing Scott Staniforth has added some much-needed experience to a side Foster said had a habit of lifting themselves against New Zealand opposition.
"When you look at their records against the other New Zealand teams, they have beaten the Highlanders and the Blues and just lost to the Crusaders," Foster said. "It is clear that they rise for the New Zealand teams and we expect no different."
There was no place in the Chiefs line-up for regular captain Jono Gibbes, who has recovered from hamstring and knee injuries but hasn't played since the round-three defeat by the Hurricanes.
"We were very tempted but he had his first hit-out for a long time last weekend [in club rugby] and we kind of feel that with three fit locks going pretty well at the moment it is a chance to give him an extra week, a bit more time to get his strength and confidence up," Foster said.
"We want him back but we also want him back playing well. While its important to get his experience back in the mix, it is also important he is at the top of his game when he gets back in there."
Foster said it had been a tough call to drop Sweeney, who had produced his best form of the season in the last two matches. "In saying that, Callum hit his straps in the middle part of the season and he brings a slightly different skill set to the game and we are pretty keen on getting him involved again."
Last Saturday's patchy victory over the Reds had been a timely wake-up call for the play-off hunting Chiefs, he said. The Reds had little trouble getting in behind the Chiefs' defence, while the Chiefs were guilty of shoddy finishing on several occasions.
"I don't think we maximised our attacking opportunities in the way that we had been and defensively we ended up having to chase it around the park for large parts of that second half, so we learned a few lessons there," Foster said. "In saying that, we also learned that things can go wrong for us but we can stem the tide and settle the game down and still finish with a reasonably comfortable win."
Perth, 9.40pm
FORCE
Cameron Shepherd
Scott Staniforth
Ryan Cross
James O'Connor
Drew Mitchell
Matt Giteau
James Stannard
Richard Brown
David Pocock
Scott Fava
Nathan Sharpe (c)
Sam Wykes
Troy Takiari
Tai McIsaac
Pek Cowan
CHIEFS
Mils Muliaina (c)
Lelia Masaga
Richard Kahui
Callum Bruce
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Stephen Donald
Jamie Nutbrown
Sione Lauaki
Tanerau Latimer
Liam Messam
Kevin O'Neill
Toby Lynn
Ben May
Tom Willis
Simms Davison
Force: Luke Holmes, Keiran Longbottom, David Pusey, Matt Hodgson, Chris O'Young, Scott Daruda, Dane Haylett-Petty.
Chiefs: Aled de Malmanche, Ben Castle, Jay Williams, Faifili Levave, David Bason, Dwayne Sweeney, Sosene Anesi.
