New Force signing may keep O'Connor on-side

THE Western Force has bolstered its forward pack for next year by signing experienced former 
 Chiefs second-rower Toby Lynn, but will it be enough to persuade James O'Connor to stay with the team?

Force coach Richard Graham indicated to O'Connor last week that he had secured a number of well-credentialled forwards for next season in the hope it might persuade the Wallabies utility to turn down approaches from the Reds, Rebels and Brumbies and remain in Perth.

Lynn certainly makes a good start, even if he has been out of Super Rugby since the end of 2009 when the Chiefs somewhat surprisingly decided not to offer him a contract, despite the fact that he had almost been a fixture in the team, playing 32 games for the franchise.

With no other NZ Super Rugby team picking him up, Lynn set about re-establishing himself with Waikato in the ITM Cup and has succeeded to the point where Graham has given him the chance, at 26, to resurrect his professional career in Perth.

The Force has been well served by captain Nathan Sharpe and a re-energised Sam Wykes in the second row this season, but it has little depth in the position and will welcome Lynn's arrival later this year.

Whether Lynn's recruitment will influence O'Connor's decision remains to be seen.

"James and I are in discussions, but I have no real idea which way he's leaning," the Force coach said. "There is no real timetable for him to decide."

The Force will be hoping for only its second home win of the season when it hosts the out-of-sorts Brumbies on Saturday, but it will have to do it without Wallabies fullback Cameron Shepherd, who is recovering from an arthroscopy to repair knee cartilage damage.

Suggestions that the Waratahs would abandon their kicking game against the Lions at the Sydney Football Stadium may have been overly optimistic, with head coach Chris Hickey insisting that simply would not make sense.

"The reality is that you have to kick at times in games," Hickey said. "What we have been guilty of is kicking badly."

Hickey pointed out that the much-praised entertainers of the competition, the Queensland Reds, had kicked 33 times when they defeated the Stormers in Cape Town in round eight, but no one had criticised them because Quade Cooper and Will Genia kicked at all the right times and to all the right places.

"They kicked well and they got a good result and the fans accepted that," said Hickey, who will discover for himself how well Tahs supporters will accept his side's kicking game when he fronts a full-capacity 120-person fan forum at the SFS theatrette on Thursday night.

The uplifting news in the Waratahs camp is that inspirational leader Tatafu Polota-Nau is set to return from concussion on Saturday night, with back-up hooker Damian Fitzpatrick also back on the active list after a long stint on the sidelines.

Melbourne Rebels vice-captain Gareth Delve will miss his first game of the season after being ruled out of the Sunday morning (AEST) match with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein because of a knee injury, with long-time Sydney University captain Tim Davidson likely to make his run-on debut at No 8.

And after the Rebels leaked six first-half tries against the Bulls last weekend, coach Rod Macqueen yesterday hinted that tackling machine Jarrod Saffy would be brought back into the starting side after sitting out the first 40 minutes on the bench in Pretoria.