'I don't really know what's happening': Force star battles through Achilles injury

Western Force hooker Folau Fainga’a continues to battle an Achilles tendon injury and will take things day by day in a bid to play through the Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

Achilles pain resulted in Fainga’a being a late scratching from the round-four defeat to the Highlanders in Invercargill, but the star Wallaby returned for last week’s 30-17 loss to the Blues.

The 27-year-old is expected to feature in Sunday’s clash with the second-placed Hurricanes in Palmerston North, but said his Achilles issue is still hanging around.

“I don’t really know what’s happening with it just yet,” Fainga’a told reporters.

“We are just taking it day by day and just treating it as it goes.

“It’s one thing where it could be good today, and then waking up tomorrow it could be sore.

“We’ve got an awesome team here, the physiotherapist and our doctors, doing an awesome job keeping me updated and up to speed in terms of what I can do outside of the footy pitch to keep me on the field.”

The Force are aiming to finish their tough three-match NZ tour on a high, but they face an almighty task to topple a powerful Hurricanes unit laden with star players.

The Hurricanes rested All Blacks trio Tyrel Lomax, Dane Coles and Jordie Barrett last week, but they were still able to thump Moana Pasifika 59-0 in a brutal nine-try display.

Force centre Sam Spink, who returned from a hamstring injury last week, is embracing the challenge.

“One of the main things I was intrigued about with Super Rugby and excited to get over here for was for those kind of those challenges,” the Englishman said.

“You look at some of the stars and names around the comp, and they’re All Blacks, they’re Wallabies, they’re some of the most exciting players in the world.

“To challenge myself against some of the best players who can beat people (in attack) is only going to improve my game defensively.

“It’s a stacked (Hurricanes) backline to come up against, and I’m looking forward to ripping in.”

Spink is glad fellow Englishman Zach Kibirige, who has been playing on the wing, has joined him at the Force.

“He’s a mouthy bugger to be honest,” Spink said.

“He doesn’t stop talking all game, which is exactly what you need from the outside.

“He encourages me to feed on that information and keep talking to the people inside me.

“The louder he is, the more information I have from what’s outside me, whether that be in attack or defence.

“His comms are pretty great, and I’ve seen that rub off on other people in the squad.”

The Force could be bolstered by the return of Wallabies prop Tom Robertson from concussion.