game of touch football at the last

training session of the season.

But a freak accident to Western

Force winger Drew Mitchell is likely

to sideline him from tonight's final-

round Super 14 game against the

ACT Brumbies in Perth.

Mitchell had the ball when he was

heavily ''touched'' by teammate

David Pocock in a traditional touch

footy game during the captain's run

at Subiaco Oval yesterday afternoon.

The

contact sent both players to

the ground.

After two minutes Pocock got up

looking groggy but Mitchell wasn't

so lucky, grasping at his right ankle

and rolling round in considerable

pain.

The Western Force medical team

was last night trying to organise

scans for the 24-year-old to determine

the extent of the injury.

Mitchell was on crutches last

night to take pressure off the ankle

and try to minimise the swelling.

He has been given until this

morning to prove his fitness.

Unsure whether there was a

broken bone or cartilage damage,

Force coach John Mitchell put reserve

back Haig Sare on standby to

join the starting team.

Junior Pelesasa will come on to

the bench should Mitchell, as

expected, be withdrawn.

Pelesasa hasn't played Super 14

all season.

Depending on the seriousness of

the injury, it could also jeopardise

Mitchell's likely selection in the

Wallabies team for their first Test

against Ireland on June 14.

''He's in pretty large amounts of

doubt [for tonight's game] but we're

still waiting to hear back,'' a Force

representative said late yesterday

afternoon.

''But it's definitely not looking

good for him.''

It's the second time in a fortnight

Mitchell has suffered an injury at a

captain's run.

The Wallabies back hurt his hip in

another mishap at Subiaco but was

cleared to play the Waikato Chiefs

next day.

His fate seems less favourable this

time round.

Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher was

surprised when The Canberra Times

informed him of the news.

He described Mitchell as a ''key

element'' to the Force's prospects

and admitted his absence would

benefit the Brumbies' chances of

ending the season with a win.

''Drew's got the most tackle

breaks in the competition this

year,'' Fisher said. ''He's had a

pretty good season all round: he's

made some really good yards for

them and scored some nice tries.

''We've obviously prepared for

him to be in there and have been

trying to snuff out the opportunities

he creates, but definitely when you

take out a class player like him it has

to have an impact on your team's

preparation and performance.''

The Force trained in heavy rain in

Perth yesterday, two hours after the

Brumbies completed their

preparations under blue skies.

The Brumbies will run out tonight

as named.

The Brumbies are the only side in

the Super 14 the Force hasn't either

beaten or drawn with, but ACT

captain Stirling Mortlock dismissed

that as a factor in either team's pre-

match motivation.

''Past results don't really mean

anything in these types of matches,''

he said.

''The fact the Force haven't

beaten any of the Australian teams

this year is probably inspiring them

a bit more and we just want to end

our season on a high after making a

lot of progress with the pretty young

side we've had.''

Mortlock believed the biggest

challenge facing the Brumbies was

preparing for a dead rubber at the

end of a three-week tour.

''It's always hard when you're

travelling,'' he said.

''It's been spoken about that

some of the guys may have been

tempted to drop into holiday mode,

and it's easy to say we'll be fine but

it's all about how we take to the

field.''

The Brumbies return to Canberra

tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, the NSW Waratahs

yesterday refused to publicise their

team ahead of Saturday's must-win

match against the Queensland Reds.

NSW coach Ewen McKenzie was

forced to explain his decision to

release only a 23-man squad to

travel to Brisbane rather than

name a starting XV and seven

reserves.

With the third-placed Waratahs

needing to beat the Reds in the

final-round fixture at Suncorp

Stadium to ensure a semi-final

berth, McKenzie said he had no

choice but to delay announcing his

line-up because he simply hadn't

finalised it, with the Waratahs fresh

back from South Africa.

TODAY

Super 14 Round 14: Western Force v ACT

Brumbies at Subiaco Oval, 9pm. TV Time:

Live on Fox Sports1.