Heartland hopes trial

Rugby

Wairarapa-Bush and Wanganui will be taking a similar approach to their Steel Cup representative rugby match at Wanganui today.

Both teams have named extended squads and have already made a commitment to giving all players game time, meaning the game has not been given first-class status.

For Wairarapa-Bush, it will be their last serious hit-out before they travel to Oamaru for their opening Heartland championship match on August 24 and it must be disappointing for head coach Mark Rutene and assistant Paddy Gough that as many as eight players are likely to be missing because of injury or work commitments. In that category are backs Inia Katia, Tapaga Isaac, Nathan Hunt, Teihana Brown and Nick Olson and forwards Nathan Iro, Campbell Lawrence and Rimataei Mururai.

Of that number you would have to think Katia, Isaac, Hunt and Olson have already done enough to make their Heartland spots relatively safe but big efforts against a team the calibre of Wanganui would have helped to convince Rutene and Gough the remaining four were ready for exposure at the higher level.

They will now have to rely on future club form to cement their places.

As Rutene has said, however, the loss of so many possible first-stringers does open the door for others to push their claims today - players like pacy Greytown wing Tavita Isaac, former Poverty Bay midfielder Paul Tiko, Bush Sports fullback Dylan Bennett, East Coast lock Clarke Butcher and the two Wellington "imports" in the starting line-up, props Finnbarr Kerr-Newell and Damian Smith.

And, of course, there are the likes of former skipper Joss Tua-Davidson, Jamie Hunt, Lance Graves, Luke Jones, Wiremu Grace, Jordan Bennett-Davies and Ted Aurelieu, all of whom will be looking to make a positive impact when they come off the bench.

Wanganui, for their part, will start the game with what has been a very settled pack but they have gone for some "bolters" in the backline, notably halfback Lindsay Horrocks, 114kg goal- kicking centre Tautahi Rawiri and pacy winger Aaron Young, all of whom will be making their debuts.

Interestingly, eight of Wanganui's top club side, Ruapehu, are in the run-out side including the vastly experienced flanker Peter Rowe, who will lead the team. He has played 82 matches for Wanganui and last season was not only named Heartland Player of the Year but also captained the national Heartland squad.

Wanganui intend to have 12 players on the bench and seven of them are newcomers, including further Ruapehu hooker Karl Parker, 137kg prop Kim McNaught and 2m tall lock Sonny Woodmass.

Kick-off at Cooks Gardens is at the later-than-usual time of 4pm.