Retired Western Force scrum-half Nic White will begin his first season in the coach’s box this year, looking to help guide the Force deep into the 2026 Super Rugby season.

Injury has riddled White throughout his career, suffering a shoulder injury early in his career which resulted in him now needing a replacement, and more recently knee surgery a few months ago.

He spoke to SportFM this morning, mentioning it was always his plan to leave it all out on the field before taking up a coaching role.

“I squeezed every bit of juice out of that lemon, I was pretty keen to go on next year and mentally I felt like I was still there but the body just broke down,” he said.

“I got two shot knees that I had surgery on about two and a half months ago now and I’ve got to get a shoulder replacement so look, I ran it into the ground and that was always the plan, to give it everything I’ve got.”

His tenure will properly begin tonight when the Force take on the Queensland Reds in a trial game at Scotch College.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 23: Nic White of the Force looks to pass during the round six Super Rugby Pacific match between Western Force and Fijian Drua at HBF Park, on March 23, 2025, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

38 players have been picked for the squad, and the game will be broken down into three 30 minute periods to give as many players as possible an opportunity to run around ahead of round 1.

“It’s a reward for the guys that have been working for the last nine weeks. They’ve been working hard the last couple of months before Christmas, and they’ve earned their right to have an opportunity to play in a Super Rugby trial,” he said.

“We’ll play the Brumbies next Friday, and that’ll start to narrow down towards the 23 that we’ll use in round 1.”

“For some young guys, it’ll be a chance to put their hand up, and some future stars will emerge.”

White is looking forward to the season ahead and is excited to experience the game he loves from a new perspective, confident the Force can go deep into the postseason this year.

“We’ve got a really strong squad… Simon has recruited really well. We’ve got competition for spots as best as I’ve seen here and it feels like the last three or four years under Simon are really coming to fruition.”

IMAGE: Getty Images