Rematch: Canterbury host Waikato in a repeat of last year's final
Round Eight of the ITM Cup sees defending champions Canterbury play host to Waikato at Rugby Park in Christchurch on Wednesday.
It's the first time these two face-off since the ITM Cup final last year.
In their last outing, Canterbury held out Tasman in the final minute to gain a much-needed bonus point victory and keep their title-defending season alive.
It is a short turn around for the red-and-blacks, currently in third spot on the ITM Cup Premiership table, who face fifth-placed Waikato.
The Mooloos are just three points behind the Cantabs, and a win for the visitors will see them leapfrog their hosts into the top three.
Waikato coach Chris Gibbes knows his team will have to lift their game considerably if they are to knock off Canterbury at 'home' after scraping past Counties Manukau in the wet on Sunday.
In team news, Canterbury have made three changes to the team which started against Tasman.
Willi Heinz returns at nine in place of Mark Swanepoel, Ash Parker takes over from lock Reuben Thorne, and Matt Todd is back in business on the openside flank after being rested in Blenheim - replacing Brendon O'Connor.
Todd's return sets up an intriguing battle at the breakdown with Waikato's former All Blacks loose forward Marty Holah, who has been in good form since returning from a long stint with the Ospreys in Wales.
Meanwhile, Waikato welcome the return of All Black centre Richard Kahui who has been released from New Zealand's squad for this game only.
All eyes will be on Kahui, who returns to the rugby paddock for the first time in nearly nine weeks, as the Chiefs midfielder attempts to get through this match unscathed.
In order for Kahui to book his plane ticket to South Africa for the All Blacks' Tri-Nations clash with the Springboks at Port Elizabeth next weekend, injury-prone Kahui needs to survive 80 minutes.
Kahui's involvement is one of nine personnel changes and one positional switch in this week's Waikato line-up. Marty Holah, Matt Vant Leven, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Trent Renata move from the bench to the starting 15, with Trent filling the full-back position and Tim Mikkelson moving to the wing.
The departure of Aled de Malmanche see's a reshuffle in the hooker position, with Marcel Cummings-Toone coming in at two and Ted Tauroa moving from prop to reserve hooker.
Toby Smith, Alex Bradley and Romana Graham also join a strong starting XV after being rested during the Counties Manukau match.
The teams:
Canterbury: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty/Tom Taylor, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal/Taylor, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock (c), 5 Ash Parker, 4 Luke Romano/Reuben Thorne, 3 Andrew Olorenshaw, 2 Steve Fualau, 1 Paea Fa'anunu.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Nepo Laulala, 18 Thorne/Dominic Bird, 19 Brendon O'Connor, 20 Mark Swanepoel, 21 Taylor/Robbie Flynn, 22 Johnny McNicholl, 23 Sam Cottam.
Waikato: 15 Trent Renata, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Tim Mikkelson, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Matt Vant Leven, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Nathan White (c), 2 Marcel Cummings-Toone, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Ted Tauroa, 17 Ben May, 18 Chris Middleton, 19 Zak Hohneck, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Declan O'Donnell, 22 Save Tokula, 23 Latu Talakai.
Comments
montyRN says...
Kahui - Fruean should be an interesting battle...
Posted 14:39 09th August 2011