The Western Force are excited to
reveal the Club’s 2026 Super Rugby Pacific fixture list where the Club will
host seven Saturday late afternoon/evening games coupled with an improved
travel schedule.
The 2026 Super Rugby Pacific fixtures were confirmed on
Thursday morning, including a Round 2 game at Arena Joondalup’s HIF Health
Insurance Oval for the first time in Super Rugby history.
Among the home highlights, the Force will open their
season at HBF Park against the ACT Brumbies on Saturday 14 February. The Force
will host the reigning champion Crusaders in Round 10 and finish with a
three-game home stretch at HBF Park from Rounds 14-16.
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The WA club will host all three other Australian clubs,
along with the Fijian Drua (Round 15), plus New Zealand trio, the Blues (Round
2 at Joondalup), the Chiefs (Round 7) and the Crusaders (Round 10).
The 2026 fixture sees the Force go on a three-game road
trip to New Zealand from Rounds 3-5, along with a pair of two-game away trips –
including one buffered by a bye – reducing the travel impact after the side
flew more than 50,000 kilometres during the 2025 Super Rugby season.
The Force won’t travel overseas after the Round 9 trip to
Fiji, while all three New Zealand away games will be played in the one block
from Rounds 3-5. The team will have byes in Rounds 6 and 11 in the 16-round
season.
All seven home games will be played on Saturdays, with
three kicking off at 4:35pm, three kicking off at 5:35pm – once east coast
daylight savings ends – and the Force-Crusaders’ Round 10 game commencing at
the later 7:55pm slot.
Force CEO Niamh O’Connor said: “The Super Rugby Pacific
fixture release is always an exciting time of year, as we look forward with
ambition and optimism.
“We’re delighted to host seven home games in front of our
Sea of Blue including taking one game into the community at Joondalup for the
first time.
“Our fan feedback shows that the late Saturday afternoon
and evening kick-off times suit our Members and supporters and we really need
them to make our home ground a fortress as we chase finals in 2026.
“From a high performance perspective, we’re really happy
with our 2026 fixture, which we appreciate is always a challenge given our
location and subsequent travel impact. We see major benefits in having three
road trips through the season, playing away games in blocks to ease the travel
burden for our players.
“We’re really excited about finishing the 2026 regular
season with three home games where we’re hopefully pushing hard in the finals
race.”
Force head coach Simon Cron was vocal about the Club’s
travel challenges last year and was supportive of the 2026 draw.
Cron said: “As we mentioned last year, it is smart to
block travel rather than zig zag, for numerous reasons. A critical factor is
the training weeks and how disruptive the zig zag was to training intensity.
“Now it is blocked this will help us keep training load
and intensity closer to our required level each week as recovery will be less
compromised.”
As revealed earlier this week, the Force will open their
season in Round 1 on Saturday 14 February against the Club’s original
opposition, the ACT Brumbies, almost 20 years to the day from their famous
inaugural clash at Subiaco Oval in 2006 in front of 37,000 fans.
The Force will then take Super Rugby to the community in
Joondalup when they host the Blues in Round 2 at Arena Joondalup’s HIF Health
Insurance Oval on Saturday 21 February.
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The side will hit the skies for a three-game New Zealand
trip to face Moana Pasifika, the Highlanders and the Hurricanes before their
first bye.
In Round 7, the Force will welcome the Chiefs to Perth
for the first time since 2023, before away games to the Queensland Reds and the
Fijian Drua.
In Round 10, the Force will host reigning champions, the
Crusaders, at HBF Park before having the side’s second bye during Super Round
to be played in Christchurch.
After the bye, the Force will have away games within
Australia against the NSW Waratahs and Brumbies, before a run of three games at
HBF Park to round out the season.
The Force will host the Reds, Drua and Waratahs from
Rounds 14-16 at HBF Park in May, all with 5:35pm kick-off times.
Force Memberships will go on sale in October at
westernforce.rugby from $129 for adults which equates to $21.50 per game, while
2025 Club Members will receive their renewals one week prior to that.
Every single game of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season
will be live on Stan Sport, with select games also on Channel Nine.
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Western Force 2026 Super Rugby Pacific fixtures
Round 1 – Western Force vs ACT Brumbies – Saturday 14
February, 4:35pm WST – HBF Park, Perth
Round 2 – Western Force vs Blues – Saturday 21 February, 4:35pm WST – HIF
Health Insurance Oval, Arena Joondalup
Round 3 – Moana Pasifika vs Western Force – Friday 27 February, 2:05pm WST –
TBC
Round 4 – Highlanders vs Western Force – Saturday 7 March, 11:35am WST –
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Round 5 – Hurricanes vs Western Force – Friday 13 March, 2:05pm WST – TBC
Round 6 – bye
Round 7 – Western Force vs Chiefs – Saturday 28 March, 4:35pm WST – HBF Park,
Perth
Round 8 – Queensland Reds vs Western Force – Saturday 4 April, 4:35pm WST –
Suncorp Stadium, Perth
Round 9 – Fijian Drua vs Western Force – Saturday 11 April, 12:35pm WST – TBC,
Fiji
Round 10 – Western Force vs Crusaders – Saturday 18 April, 7:55pm WST – HBF
Park, Perth
Round 11 (Super Round) – bye
Round 12 – NSW Waratahs vs Western Force – Friday 1 May, 5:35pm WST – Allianz
Stadium, Sydney
Round 13 – ACT Brumbies vs Western Force – Saturday 9 May, 5:35pm WST – GIO
Stadium, Canberra
Round 14 – Western Force vs Queensland Reds – Saturday 16 May, 5:35pm WST – HBF
Park, Perth
Round 15 – Western Force vs Fijian Drua – Saturday 23 May, 5:35pm WST – HBF
Park, Perth
Round 16 – Western Force vs NSW Waratahs – Saturday 30 May, 5:35pm WST – HBF
Park, Perth
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