Cantabs and Stags on trial
The Cantabrians and Southland Stags will go head-to-head in a pre-season NPC match in Oamaru on Thursday – a game in which both teams will put a number of players on trial.
The Cantabrians see these games as an opportunity for players to get some game time before the NPC season officially begins, and to put forward their case for a position in the final Canterbury NPC squad.
Canterbury head coach Tabai Matson says last week's game against Tasman was a really useful opportunity for him to see how some of the emerging talent performed under pressure.
"Tasman beat us by 29 points to 5 last week, so it was a very tough game," Matson said.
"But it was a great chance for some of the guys to put themselves to the test and see if they could perform against a strong side.
"There were some really pleasing performances and there will be some guys who are itching to get back on the field tomorrow and have another chance to show what they are capable of," Matson added.
Meanwhile Stags coach David Henderson is taking a cautious approach with midfielder Cardiff Vaega.
Vaega, the son of former Southland and Western Samoa international To'o Vaega, debuted for the Stags last year and shapes as a strong option after the departure of Kendrick Lynn to Bay of Plenty, which has thinned the union's resources.
The talented back has been troubled by some tightness in the leg and Henderson is loathe to risk him so early in the season.
"There's no point in pushing that too much further, because if you get a hamstring injury at this time of the year and it turns out to be a bad one, the year is over for them," Henderson told the Southland Times.
Without Vaega, Henderson has opted to shift Josh Hall out one place from his normal spot at flyhalf.
The Blues No.10, a former Counties-Manukau player, had not played a lot at second-five but had more experience at this level than Matt Gandy, who has been included on an extended bench.
Thursdays game will be played over four quarters and with both teams fielding extended benches it will not count as a first class fixture.
Teams:
Southland: 15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Mark Wells, 13 Matt Saunders, 12 Josh Hall, 11 Tim Cornforth, 10 Scott Eade, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Hoani Macdonald, 7 Tim Boys, 6 John Hardie, 5 Alex Ryan, 4 Ben Nally, 3 Nic Barrett, 2 Brayden Mitchell, 1 Tuki Raimona.
Replacements – from: Jason Rutledge, Talemaitoga Tuapati, Micheal Peterson, Aston Talaia, Josh Bekhuis, Campbell Smith, Scott Cowan, Matt Gandy, Junior Ngualafe.
Cantabrians squad: Mark Abbott, Rhys Llewellen, Shayne Anderson, Taniela Manu, Dom Bird, Fia Meafou, Jed Brown, Sam Monaghan, Sam Cottam, Matt Moulds, Sam Dickson, Andrew Olorenshaw, Joel Everson, Rameeka Paraki, Paea Fa'anunu, James Schrader, Mitch Graham, Tom Stanley, Kolio Hifo, Codie Taylor, Jordan Hyland, Telusa Veainu, Mark Jackman, Ellery Wilson, Luke Katene.
Date: Thursday, August 9
Venue: Centennial Park, Oamaru
Kick-off: 13.00 (01.00 GMT)
Referee: Kane McBride/Vinny Munro
