Western Force v Reds: Teams

Reds head coach Phil Mooney has named an unchanged starting line-up for Friday's Super 14 match against the Western Force in Perth, with just one bench change from the team beaten 50-26 by the Chiefs.

Powerful former Highlanders backrower Ezra Taylor has recovered from a shoulder injury suffered against the Sharks on March 14 and comes onto the bench in place of Poutasi Luafutu.

Injured wing Peter Hynes (knee) was unable to recover in time from an arthroscopy, so Mooney will stick with his teenage wing pairing of Blair Connor and Rod Davies, who had a torrid time against their more experienced Chiefs opponents.

"Blair and Rod have spent a lot of time with Peter Hynes this week analysing their game and getting advice from Peter, so they need to get back on the horse this week and put that into practice. I'm confident they'll bounce back," Mooney said.

"I've said a couple of times this week that you don't become a bad player or a bad team overnight, so I'm also confident the Reds as a team will be able to give a good account of themselves in Perth."

Physical

Mooney said the Reds' selection meeting thought long and hard about their forward selections especially, with backrower Scott Higginbotham giving another rousing performance off the bench to put pressure on the whole back five.

"Higgers could be considered unlucky not to have won a starting spot, as he's definitely breathing down the other guys' necks, while it's also tough on Tasi (Luafutu) giving his spot on the bench to Ezra," Mooney said.

"But we felt Ezra deserves a bit more time than he's had so far this year due to injury and that he offers a bit more physicality. This is his chance to impress against very strong opponents."

As expected, with young Ben Daley in good form at loosehead prop, former Wallaby Greg Holmes (shoulder/neck) has been given another week to recuperate.

Force have welcomed back Wallabies number eight Richard Brown and winger Nick Cummins their must-win home clash with the Reds.

Brown missed the past three matches with a shoulder injury while Cummins was sidelined for the loss to the Sharks with a hamstring strain.

Drew Mitchell switches from the wing to full-back, while James O'Connor reverts from the number fifteen jersey to inside centre. Junior Pelesasa has been relegated to the bench.

Responsibility

The side has also been boosted by the return of lock Sam Wykes, who has been named on the bench after recovering from a shoulder reconstruction.

Brown replaces Tamaiti Horua at No.8 while Scott Staniforth retains his position on the right wing.

The Reds and Force are anchored near the foot of the table and Force coach John Mitchell conceded his team need to win to keep their finals hopes alive.

"We've got no choice but to take responsibility for our own future in the 2009 competition and to do that we'll need to bring a positive mentality and be willing to chance our arm in each of our remaining games," Mitchell said.

"The bye last week gave us an opportunity to re-assess our position and set our targets for the remainder of the season and there's no doubt we need greater cohesion in the second half of our campaign."

Western Force: 15 Drew Mitchell, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 AJ Whalley, 18 Sam Wykes, 19 Tamaiti Horua, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Junior Pelesasa, 22 Haig Sare.

Reds: 15 Mark McLinden, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Rod Davies, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Van Humphries, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Jack Kennedy, 18 Scott Higginbotham, 19 Ezra Taylor, 20 Brendan McKibbin, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Charlie Fetoai.