The Western Force’s squad for the 2026 Swyftx Super Rugby Women’s season continues to take shape, with Wallaroos prop Allana Sikimeti and former Black Ferns back-rower Pia Tapsell re-signing.
Both players returned to the Force set-up earlier this year, linking up for an extended pre-season as they look to attack the 2026 Super W campaign.
Sikimeti, 21, spent last season with the Force after a breakout 2024 that led to her Wallaroos debut in July against Fijiana.
The young Brisbane-born prop, who won the Brumbies’ Most Outstanding Young Player award in 2024 prior to her move west, played three times for the Force in the 2025 Super W season.
Sikimeti utilized the Force’s partnership with sister club Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix with a stint in Japan late last year to aid her growth and development.
On Sikimeti, Force Super W head coach Dylan Parsons said: “We’ve been really keen to support Allana’s development with more game-time and through our partnership with Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix we were able to provide her with an opportunity to go to Japan and play a full season.
“She experienced the speed and technical side of the Japanese competition, which we knew would be a good challenge for her and help improve different areas of her game. We seen that as a important part of her pathway back into the Wallaroos set-up.
“We believe with a good Super W pre-season and games, she’ll be fighting her way back into the Wallaroos team."
Tapsell, 26, has re-committed to the Club for a third season in Force blue, having starred in the 2025 campaign with her powerful and physical style.
The back-rower previously earned six caps for New Zealand, bursting on to the international scene in 2019 and won the Black Ferns’ Rookie of the Year.
Tapsell has tallied seven caps in her two seasons for the Force, with her maiden season curtailed by an elbow injury, before finishing fourth in Rebecca Clough medal voting in 2025.
On Tapsell, Parsons said: “Strategically we want to create an environment with players that we know and trust within our program and Pia is one of them, having spent two seasons here previously.
“We wanted to bring her back and keep building on the work from her previous two seasons with us.
“She brings a big point of difference around her physicality but also her rugby knowledge with her experience, not only in rugby union in New Zealand and Australia, but also NRLW for a couple years.
“She adds value with that experience. It’s exciting to have Pia back. It shows that retention is a big focus for us, not just recruitment, to build good cohesion and consistency in our squad.”
The re-signings take the Force’s 2026 Super W squad to 16 members. The Force’s first game of the 2026 Super W season is Saturday 13 June away to Fijian Drua.
2026 Western Force Swyftx Super Rugby Women’s squad
Katalina Amosa, Zoe Elliott, Grace Freeman, Nicole Ledington, Michaela Leonard, Hera-Barb Malcolm Heke, Ngamihi Monk, Sera Naiqama, Alapeta Ngauamo, Hannah Palelei, Allana Sikimeti, Cecilia Smith, Pia Tapsell, Brooklyn Teki-Joyce, Braxton Walker, Sammy Wood
