Kurtley Beale becomes Force's 'Mr Spark' after ageless performance

Former Wallabies star Kurtley Beale has been dubbed the Western Force's "Mr Spark" as he prepares to take another step up in the Super Rugby history books.

Beale will line up for his 186th match in Saturday night's clash with the Fijian Drua in Perth, putting him outright third on the all-time Super Rugby games played list.

Only Wyatt Crockett (202) and James Slipper (210) have played more, but Beale will go one ahead of Aaron Smith (185).

The 37-year-old has looked rejuvenated since joining the Force in April, 2024, and he again showed his value to the team in Saturday night's 19-14 win over the Queensland Reds.

After being introduced in the 56th minute, Beale produced a series of strong runs and sharp passes to ignite the Force.

Beale's leadership was also crucial as the Reds battled hard to steal the win at the death.

"He is Mister Spark, KB, and it's a credit to him, because when he does come on, he does open up our outsides really well," Force coach Simon Cron said.

"He made some really hard carries, which I think has been a massive improvement in his game. 

"He's actually physically very solid, he's strong, and if you look at two or three of those carries, he's really starting to set himself up as a strong ball carrier.

"He's also a great rugby brain within the team and helps support the other guys around him."

Another player to impress on Saturday night was former NRL star Zac Lomax.

Lomax dominated in the air with a series of superb catches.

And although the 26-year-old is still finding his feet in many other aspects of rugby union, Cron is happy with his progress.

"He's a very energetic human who loves to go hunting the ball - you can't fault that," Cron said. 

"It's just sometimes helping him where he needs to go, cover back field, just little things in the game. 

"His ball carry is good. Just when it goes to high density, (he needs to) make sure he drops his body height."

The Force have won three of their past four games to close to within six points of the sixth-placed Reds, but they need to win their final two games - against Fijian Drua and NSW Waratahs - to have any hope of making the top six.

Force captain Jeremy Williams says his team are embracing the challenge of every game being a "do or die" clash.