The Western Force have elevated young back Boston Fakafanua to their Super Rugby Pacific squad ahead of the 2026 season.
Fakafanua has come through the Western Force Academy and has thrived since moving from Sydney.
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The centre earned selection for the Australia U20s squad in the 2024 and 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship after a stellar season in Super Rugby U19s.
He would start in three games across his two seasons to go with six further appearances from the bench.
Fakafanua took the step up into Super Rugby AUS last month and played three games, including the Grand Final.
“I’m excited for an opportunity,” Fakafanua said.
“The Force have shown some good trust in me, especially over the Super Rugby AUS period, which, for me, was a good opportunity to grow my game and rub shoulders with the senior squad.
“It was great to work closely with the likes of Chucky (James Stannard), KB (Kurtley Beale), and Max Burey and learn off them to grow my footy.
“You always want to play where you feel welcome.
"Getting to know the Force boys over the last period has been great. It’s been a place where I feel comfortable and a place I want to succeed.”
Force coach Simon Cron was pleased to see another star come through the Academy as he looks to take the team to their maiden finals.
“He demonstrated through the Super Rugby AUS competition that he’s a very good defensive reader," Cron explained.
“We felt like even during our pre-season training, his catch-passes and running lines have been really impressive. Over the last four-to-five months we’ve started to see him grow physically.
“As a result, he’s very talented and we’re excited about his ceiling and upside.
“Ideally we can start to can continue to develop players from our Academy into our Super Rugby program like Boston who follows in the footsteps of Marley Pearce, Albert Alcock and a growing list of others."
