{"id":380783,"date":"2026-04-08T04:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380783\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T04:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:47:07","slug":"williams-returns-lomax-in-line-for-debut-as-force-face-drua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380783\/","title":{"rendered":"Williams returns &#038; Lomax in line for debut as Force face Drua"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Captain Jeremy Williams will return to the Western Force starting side while Zac Lomax is in line to make his debut against the Fijian Drua in Lautoka in Round 9 of the Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific season on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Williams is back in the second row after clearing his return-to-play head injury protocols that saw him miss the 42-19 win over the Queensland Reds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Sef Fa\u2019agase comes into the starting XV at loosehead prop to replace Wallaby Tom Robertson who has returned to Perth due to a head knock sustained against the Reds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com.au\/western-force-v-crusaders-perth-18-04-2026\/event\/13006397D0116E6D?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"css-tm001h\">Purchase tickets to our next home game on Saturday 18 April with a 7:55pm kick-off at HBF Park &#8211; Force vs Crusaders (Party At The Park) &#8211; tix from $28<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Hamish Stewart is also added to the run-on side at outside-centre as George Bridge shuffles to the wing, with Darby Lancaster ruled out with an ankle injury sustained while scoring against the Reds. Williams comes in at lock to replace Darcy Swain who is unavailable due to illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Force Academy product and loosehead prop Marley Pearce along with new signing Zac Lomax, who was a late withdrawal for his debut last round due to hamstring tightness, are added to the reserves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Fa\u2019agase starts on the front row alongside Wallaby Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Misinale Epenisa, with a second row of Franco Molina, fresh from a hat-trick against the Reds, partnering Williams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">In the back row are Champion de Crespigny, Daly \u2013 who impressed on debut last round &#8211; and Vaiolini Ekuasi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Scrum-half Henry Robertson and fly-half Ben Donaldson will team up again, supported by Bayley Kuenzle and Stewart in the midfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Dylan Pietsch and George Bridge will start on the wings, with the back three rounded out by Mac Grealy, fresh from extending his stay at the Force until 2028.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Nic Dolly, Pearce, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Lopeti Faifua, Will Harris, Agustin Moyano, Beale and Lomax are the reserves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">If he plays, Beale will notch up his 181th Super Rugby game, equaling Sam Whitelock in joint fifth in competition history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Kick-off for Saturday\u2019s game is 12:35pm WST live on Stan Sport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com.au\/western-force-v-crusaders-perth-18-04-2026\/event\/13006397D0116E6D?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"css-tm001h\">Purchase tickets to our next home game on Saturday 18 April with a 7:55pm kick-off at HBF Park &#8211; Force vs Crusaders (Party At The Park) &#8211; tix from $28<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Game details<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Fijian Drua vs Western Force<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Saturday 11 April, 12:35pm WST<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Churchill Park, Lautoka<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Live on Stan Sport<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Western Force team list<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">1 Sef Fa\u2019agase<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">3 Misinale Epenisa<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">4 Franco Molina<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">5 Jeremy Williams (c)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">6 Nick Champion de Crespigny (vc)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">7 Jack Daly<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">8 Vaiolini Ekuasi<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">9 Henry Robertson<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">10 Ben Donaldson (vc)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">11 Dylan Pietsch<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">12 Bayley Kuenzle<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">13 Hamish Stewart<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">14 George Bridge<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">15 Mac Grealy<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Reserves; 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 19 Lopeti Faifua, 20 Will Harris, 21 Agustin Moyano, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Zac Lomax<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">SKG Radiology Unavailable List<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Tom Robertson (head injury) \u2013 return to play protocols<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Albert Alcock (quad) \u2013 short term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Feao Fotuaika (foot) \u2013 short term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Nathan Hastie (ribs) \u2013 short term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Darcy Swain (illness) &#8211; short term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Carlo Tizzano (knee) \u2013 short term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Ronan Leahy (knee) \u2013 medium term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Doug Philipson (knee) \u2013 medium term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Alex Harford (shoulder) \u2013 long term<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Darby Lancaster (ankle) &#8211; TBC<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com.au\/western-force-v-crusaders-perth-18-04-2026\/event\/13006397D0116E6D?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"css-tm001h\">Purchase tickets to our next home game on Saturday 18 April with a 7:55pm kick-off at HBF Park &#8211; Force vs Crusaders (Party At The Park) &#8211; tix from $28<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Captain Jeremy Williams will return to the Western Force starting side while Zac Lomax is in line to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105,28899],"class_list":["post-380783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports","tag-western-force"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}