Stannard eyes a return to Force
Former Western Force scrum-half and Australian 7s star James Stannard could be on his way back to the club for next year's Super rugby competition.
The Force must look for a new No.9 to back-up Brett Sheehan with Justin Turner expected to need a knee reconstruction that would see him sidelined for up to eight months after an injury in the IRB world junior championship.
The Force is also considering Auckland Blues scrum-half Grayson Hart, 21, while another option could be Patrick Phibbs, 29, who has been at the Brumbies since 2005and is understood to be looking for a move.
Stannard came to Perth in 2006 from Brisbane Souths.
He was selected in the Force academy two years later and was thrust into the spotlight with six Super 14 starts, making his debut against he Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, after Matt Henjak was sacked and before Chris O'Young re-signed.
When Josh Valentine was signed Stannard lost his position in the squad and eventually found himself in Canberra and the Brumbies academy and then eastywood in Sydney.
Since then he has been contracted to the Australian Rugby Union on a 7s contract, captaining the side to their first IRB title in eight years in London in May when he was named player of the tournament.
French clubs showed an interest in Stannard, nicknamed "Chucky", after the win.
Hart, whose uncle is former All Blacks coach John Hart, has Australian eligibility through his family heritage.
He made his debut for Auckland in the 2007 ANZ Cup as a 19-year-old and was a member of the New Zealand U20 team that won the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship in 2008.
"A couple of names have been thrown up for discussion. James Stannard is one, on the back of his sevens performances where's he'd done really well and another is Grayson Hart and we will look at his form in the NPC," Force rugby manager Mitch Hardy said.
Turner, 20,wasinjuredafter just five minuites ofAustralia's final pool match against South Africa on Sunday, a game the young Wallabies went on to win 42-35.
The injury is a bitter blow to Turner who missed out on last year's tournament with a back injury.
He played in Australia's 58-13 win over Scotland and was a reserve in the 67-5 demolition of Tonga .
The exciting young scrum-half has had a rapid rise in his rugby career.
He came from the bench to be part of the Force's after-the-siren win against the Stormers and scored his first try seven days later in the victory over the Highlanders in Queenstown.
Soon after he signed a two-year deal with the Force and was then handed the starting scrum-half spot against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein
