Have the Western Force answered their biggest questions for 2026?

The Western Force will be a different team in Super Rugby Pacific 2026.

The recruitment of international stars, the rise of their own players into Wallaby ranks, and the continuity in coaching staff all bode well for the men in the west.

Travel was a massive factor in 2025, and although the Force can’t escape their long-haul trips as the most far-flung side in the comp, they have been dealt a kinder hand for the start of 2026.

There’s no escaping that their roster has had more turnover this year, as it does every year, but this year it is different.

Coach Simon Cron is finally getting his fingerprints on this group, and it’s beginning to look like a side that can not only compete but also excel.

Results 2025 – Finished 9th, 4 wins, 1 draw, 9 losses, points differential -114.

Finishing in ninth spot, there’s clearly a lot that must be improved for Cron and his men, and defence is chief among them, finishing with a points differential of -114.

Scoring points was never the Force’s issue; rather, when push came to shove, they couldn’t mix it with the top teams.

In Super Rugby, a top-six finish is now required to make the finals, which means teams must have a rock-solid set-piece, a cohesive defence, and an astute kicking game with consistent discipline.

SRP is now back to being a competition on par with other global club competitions, and that means the margin for error is only getting smaller and the consequences greater.

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A word from the Force coach

Coach Simon Cron is a straight shooter, and he has not shied away from the shortcomings of 2025, but he is sure about the recipe for 2026.

“We started hot and hard last year (2025), fit and strong, and then as the season progressed, we ended up on the road quite a bit, and it’s about managing rotation of players. And to get rotation of players, you have to have depth,” said Cron, speaking on the Off The Ruck YouTube channel.

“You’ve got to have guys who can play Super Rugby, and not just play Super Rugby and get in the bottom three, bottom four… handle Super Rugby and get us to the top six, top four, top two.”

Cron has recruited with purpose in the off-season, bringing in Argentine internationals lock Franco Molina and halfback Agustin Moyano.

They bring a vast amount of experience, physicality, and knowledge about what it takes to compete on rugby’s biggest stages.

While these two are great additions, the Force’s biggest issues came at scrum time, and Cron has made sure to address that with his recruitment strategy.

“Over the last couple of years, there has been quite a lot of change… this year we have gone with a fire hose approach, we’ve gone after specific positions that have, I suppose, been hurting us,” Cron said.

“Both last two seasons we have had to pull in props from club rugby and that’s not conducive to success… they’re good people, but this year it’s about creating much more depth.”

This front-row reinforcement comes in the form of 91-cap Sef Fa’agase and Tongan international Feao Fotuaika.

Both players are in their propping prime, and they bring starch, vast experience, and, foremost, size to the Force scrum.

To put the importance of this recruitment in context, the Force had the worst scrum success of any team last season, finishing with just 89.7 per cent success. For comparison, the Chiefs were the best scrummaging side with a 97.6 per cent success rate.

The Force also finished second-worst for penalties conceded, at an average of 10.7 per game. A decent portion of these in most games came from scrums. It’s a penalty rate that is comparatively poor with the stat leaders, the Brumbies, who only conceded an average of 7.8 per game.

The boost that the two new props will bring to this group cannot be understated.

Penalties lead to territory, which leads to more time defending, which was part of their game that hampered their efforts at a maiden finals berth.

In 2025, the Force had the most missed tackles in the competition, averaging 27 per game. This is likely due to making the second-most tackles per game at 199.

Cron has been very adamant that their rush defence is the right path for the side, but laying down a well-understood framework in preseason will be key to their success.

On a more positive note, a real weapon for the Force last season was their lineout and maul.

They scored numerous tries from that set-piece, a huge credit to the work of Jeremy Williams and Darcy Swain, who will only be aided by the arrival of Molina.

The adage goes: forwards decide who wins the games, the backs decide by how much.

The growth of forwards like Carlo Tizzano, Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, one-time Wallaby captain Nick Champion De Crespigny and Jeremy Williams, as well as fringe members Will Harris and Nic Dolly, will put them in good stead to keep quality on the park at all times in 2026.

Player to keep an eye on: Harry Johnson-Holmes

The Cowra-born tighthead is finally set to make his debut for the Western Force after a torrid run of injuries.

The 28-year-old has ruptured two Achilles tendons, had shoulder complications, and most recently suffered a full ACL rupture in preseason 2025, which ruled him out for the entire season.

Now, the prop is poised to return to Super Rugby, and being in the front row, his availability will give the Force the exact boost they need in 2026.

Johnson-Holmes has a wealth of experience, having played 91 Super Rugby games across the various iterations of the competition.

Nevertheless, the move from Sydney’s Daceyville to Perth has been a big change, particularly with the WA heat, something he sees as the Force’s secret weapon.

“I think it just comes down to identity, you can relish training in the heat every day and then when you go over and play in Wellington, where it’s a bit cooler, you might feel like you have a bit of an edge there,” he told the Off The Ruck YouTube channel.

“In a way, I’d like to think that it’s giving the guys a bit of an edge… we are copping a lot of UVs, and I am going through a lot of sunscreen.”

While Johnson-Holmes was humble and humorous about his move west, he still harbours a burning desire to push for higher honours.

“It’s (playing for the Wallabies at the 2027 RWC) something I’d love to do.

“For me, having been out for this full year (2025), my goal is to get back and to get back playing the way I know I can. I owe a lot to the Western Force for keeping me around, but I’d love to be back in the green and gold.”

The one-cap Wallaby has been robbed of several opportunities to pull on the gold jersey throughout his career, but at 28, he is entering his scrummaging prime.

Should he replicate his 2024 form with the Waratahs at his new home in Perth, it will do his Wallaby ambitions little harm.

Force predicted finish for SRP 2026 – 6th

Despite the Force having a kinder start to their draw in 2026 than last season, the middle part of their campaign throws up a heavy block of travel and tough match-ups.

As it stands, the Force look likely to finish with four wins. However, if they start strongly against the Brumbies and Blues at home in the first two rounds, and navigate the Moana Pasifika banana peel in round three, they can head into a clash with a much-improved Highlanders side with confidence.

The trip to the deep south begins their mid-season travel block: Highlanders, then Hurricanes in Napier, followed by a round-six bye.

The Chiefs at home is followed by the Reds and Drua away, before finishing round ten against the Crusaders at home and heading into another bye.

If they snag just one win from rounds five to ten, the outlook for their season changes drastically.

After the second bye, the travel schedule eases, but this is where their newly recruited depth will be crucial and properly tested.

Depth alone is not always enough; cohesion is key, and it will be clear by their round-six bye whether that cohesion is present.

Upset wins against the Blues in round two and the Highlanders in round four could see them finish with six wins and a genuine shot at sixth.

The Blues snuck into the finals in 2025 with six wins and nine bonus points. Wins alone will not be enough, but five to six wins combined with competitive losses against the front-runners would give the Force a solid shot at a maiden finals appearance.