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Sharpe 100 for Force skipper

Tuesday 25th March 2008

Eyeing 100: Nathan Sharpe lines up a milestone

Western Force Captain Nathan Sharpe is set to reach a personal milestone of 100 Super Rugby caps this Friday night against the Stormers at Subiaco Oval.

Sharpe will join a distinguished club of Australian rugby players to reach the century mark in Super Rugby, adding his name to an elite group which includes George Gregan, Chris Whitaker, Stephen Larkham, Bill Young, Jeremy Paul and George Smith.

Team captain since the inception of the Western Force in 2006, Sharpe has played in all but three matches for the Perth-based team after tallying 70 caps in eight seasons with the Queensland Reds.

Standing 2m tall and weighing 115kg, the Wagga-Wagga born lock has had an illustrious career, representing Australia at every age group level before embarking on a 63-Test career for the Wallabies including two Rugby World Cup campaigns and two caps as captain.

Sharpe said his 100th Super Rugby match will be a feat to reflect on post-career.

"It's one of those milestones that creeps up only you as you get older but It's something I'll look back on when its all over and be extremely proud," Sharpe told the Force website.

"The exciting thing for me is that I'm looking forward to a few more years in the game and have hopefully got plenty of rugby left in me."

At 30 years of age, Sharpe has reached the '100 club' relatively early in his career, but concedes there is no secret to his durability.

"You have to play at least eight years of non-stop rugby to get to 100 [caps] and I've been lucky to have not missed too many games throughout my career," he said.

"I'm not sure what the secret is. I'm not too impressive with my shirt off but [my body] must be held together pretty well," he joked.

The milestone will round off a huge month for Sharpe, who three weeks ago signed a new contract with the Western Force and the ARU to secure his future in Australia, and Perth, until post 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Sharpe said the team "won't make a lot of fuss" over his milestone on Friday night, while the skipper's focus remains firmly on helping his side to a maiden Super 14 finals berth.

"We're in a great position after the [NZ] tour, and with five home games to go and a couple of short trips away, we have a prefect opportunity to give the competition a shake."

Fellow inaugural Western Force team member Tai McIsaac will celebrate his 50th Super Rugby cap in Friday night's clash with the Stormers.

McIsaac is the only player to play every match for the Club since it's inception in 2006. The Subiaco Oval clash will be his 33rd consecutive match for the WA team.