Western Force coach Simon Cron says they need to stack winning moments in the hunt for their second win of the season in Saturday's Round 4 Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
It is crucial they continue to build confidence after the last round 35-19 victory over Moana Pasifika, Cron told reporters at the CD Dodd Coaches’ Conference on Friday.
He said they were growing mental reserves to handle changes, adapt and evolve - highlighted by the way they dealt with the confusion surrounding Ben Donaldson, forced to undergo an HIA test after his mouthguard went off in the warm-up last week.
The fly-half missed kick-off before cleared to play, replacing Max Burey who had come off the bench.
"We talk about stacking winning moments during games," Cron said.
"That's really important for us going into this game, making sure we win those moments.
"That will go a long way to the outcome of the game.
"It's critically important that we put a performance together… continue to build belief and growth.
"You could see a bit of growth in the game last week.
"We talked a lot about dominating your lane and I felt a lot of guys did that for the majority of that game."
Cron said they had spoken about discipline and the fade out that let Moana in for two late tries, denying them a bonus point.
"We addressed that, we've chatted about it, we've talked about how we deal with that in the future to prevent that kind of momentum shift and how we can control it," he said.
"We addressed it as a team, talked about the what, the why, the how and how we fix it."
Cron has made several changes to the side that beat Moana.
Two Wallabies, back-rower Nick Champion de Crespigny who missed two games with a knee injury, and hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, return to the starting line-up.
Divad Palu comes into the midfield with former All Black George Bridge moving to the left wing.
Champion de Crespigny’s return allows captain Jeremy Williams to join Darcy Swain in the second row.
"It's exciting. Creps always has an enormous amount of energy. It's great having him back on the field," Cron said.
"It allows us to give Franco (Molina) the opportunity to come off the bench and freshen up a little bit."
One of Palu's jobs will be stopping Highlanders' big midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai.
Cron said the switch between Palu and Bridge was "a little bit more technical, tactical".
"Bridgey is on fire. It's nothing to do with his performance," he said.
"He is great on the left edge and he's obviously great under the high ball which is a big part of the game this week, we think.
"Bridgey's done such a big job over the last three games we don't want to keep beating him up...give him a bit of space and room to move.
"They do have a bigger midfield and Divad gives us a bit of size in there."
Force No.8 Vaiolini Ekuasi has made a barnstorming start to the season and Cron predicted he will keep getting better.
He was the Force top carrier with 15 against Moana Pasifika and he made 13 tackles.
His performance against Moana put him second on the Super ladder for carries with 42 and his 55 tackles had him in third place.
Ekuasi made his Super debut in 2022 with the Blues, spent two years with the Melbourne Rebels before moving to the Force last season but was hampered by a shoulder injury.
He can play across the back row but has found a home in the Force No.8 jumper.
"We are big about trying to find people who have a high ceiling," Cron said.
"Every hour we put into them from a coaching perspective you are going to get a massive return.
"He is a great human and amazing man and we're lucky to have him in our team.
"He works hard and adds so much value to our group.
"His performances are reflective of his attitude towards growth and playing for the team.
"He's getting us go-forward, he's working very hard, he's fit, his body is in great shape.
"He'll keep getting better."
The game (kick-off 11:35am, live on Stan Sport) is part of Club Rugby Round, celebrating volunteers, coaches, match officials and players in community rugby.
Force players will wear the socks of their allocated Fortescue WA Premier Grade clubs.
Western Force starting side: 1 Tom Robertson, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 4 Jeremy Williams (c), 5 Darcy Swain, 6 Nick Champion de Crespigny (vc), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 8 Vaiolini Ekuasi, 9 Nathan Hastie, 10 Ben Donaldson, 11 George Bridge, 12 Hamish Stewart, 13 Divad Palu, 14 Darby Lancaster, 15 Mac Grealy.
Reserves: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 Misinale Epenisa, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Will Harris, 21 Henry Robertson, 22 Max Burey, 23 Kurtley Beale.
Highlanders starting side: 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Jack Taylor, 3 Angus Ta'avao, 4 Oliver Haig, 5 Mitch Dunshea, 6 Te Kamaka Howden, 7 Veveni Lasawa, 8 Nikora Broughton, 9 Folau Fakatava, 10 Cameron Millar, 11 Jona Nareki, 12 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 13 Jonah Lowe, 14 Caleb Tangitau, 15 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens.
Reserves: 16 Soane Vikena, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Sosefo Kautai, 19 Will Stodart, 20 Sean Withy, 21 Adam Lennox, 22 Reesjan Pasitoa, 23 Tanielu Tele'a.
Game details
Highlanders vs Western Force
Saturday 7 March, 11:35am WST
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Live on Stan Sport
