Hamish Stewart Hits 50 as Force Name Unchanged Waratahs Vs Force Squad

Hamish Stewart will play his 50th Western Force match in waratahs vs force, and Simon Cron has backed the same squad that beat the Crusaders 31-26 two weeks earlier. The only real selection wrinkle is Zac Lomax, who stays on the right wing but remains in play for outside-centre at Allianz Stadium.

Cron Keeps the Same 23

Cron named an unchanged squad for Friday’s Round 12 Super Rugby Pacific clash against the NSW Waratahs at Allianz Stadium, his first unchanged side of the season. Stewart moves from the bench into the starting inside-centre role, swapping places with Bayley Kuenzle for the Australian derby.

That is the clearest sign the Force are leaning on continuity after the 31-26 win over the Crusaders. They did not reach for a reshuffle after that result, and the one change in the match-day build is Stewart’s promotion into the midfield.

Zac Lomax At 13

Cron has also been using Lomax at 13 in training while keeping him on the wing for this match. He said the Force have been working on the move to outside-centre and described it as a way to get more out of the star signing without locking him into one role.

“We've been working on Zac at 13 as well as wing and just trying to work it, different positions, but that's really the only one we're looking at the moment.”

“For us it's about looking at, can he attack at 13 and defend on the wing? Or defend at 13 and attack on the wing?”

“Just a little bit of a play around. There's different ways in which we can get him involved.”

“He's got an amazing skillset, he loves getting his hands on the ball and we'll just do what we can to make that happen.”

Stewart’s 50th Appearance

Stewart reaches 50 Force appearances having missed only two games since joining before the 2023 season. Cron described him as direct and reliable, and said he has been a big leader inside the squad despite not talking much.

“Hamish and BK have been great for us”

“Hamish has trained really well. He's been really direct and doing what we needed him to do.”

The Force now take that stability into a derby that kicks off at 5:35pm WST and will be shown live on Stan Sport and 91.3 SportFM. Their next home game is against the Queensland Reds on Saturday 16 May at 5:35pm, but the immediate test is whether the unchanged structure can carry the momentum from the Crusaders win into Sydney.