Bay prop grabs semis bench spot

He's sat and watched for most of the season but Bay of Plenty prop Joe Savage is bracing himself to be chucked in the deep end tomorrow night.
Savage was named on the bench by the Chiefs for their Super 14 semifinal against the Hurricanes in Hamilton tomorrow night, despite only playing 20mins in the previous 14 rounds, against the Western Force at the start of March.
It has been a frustrating experience for the 26-year-old, who was one of the Steamers' most consistent week-to-week performers during last year's Air New Zealand Cup.
"Not getting any game time is hard every week," Savage said.
"You want to hear your name read out but when it doesn't come, oh man, you sort of sulk for 15 minutes and then you've got to get over it - that's been the hardest thing for me."
When starting prop Ben May fell awkwardly during a scrum last week against the Brumbies, ending his season with a serious knee injury, Savage, who was expecting to run out for Whakarewarewa in a Baywide game in Opotiki on Saturday, saw his stocks rise.
"I was going to go down and play but I sort of got told not to," he said after the Chiefs' training this week.
He admits he's desperate for some action, having played 80 minutes for Whakarewarewa two weeks ago and two other club games prior to the Chiefs tour to South Africa.
"I'm pretty excited, I haven't had a hit-out for the Chiefs for a while ... in the back of my mind I've got to treat this as another game but the excitement will always be there."
Chiefs coach Ian Foster named James McGougan and Sona Taumalolo as starting props with hooker Aled del Malmanche. All Black halfback Brendon Leonard and prop May were today joined on the sidelines by eight-test centre Richard Kahui yesterday.
Kahui is replaced by utility back Dwayne Sweeney, who had the benefit of marking Wallabies and Brumbies veteran Stirling Mortlock last weekend.
Sweeney is one of three changes Foster was forced to make after the Chiefs shaded the Brumbies 10-7 to claim an historic home semifinal.
After beating the Hurricanes in pre-season and two weeks ago in Hamilton, Savage is confident the Chiefs can make it three from three in 2009.
"We can deal to the Hurricanes - that's not to say it won't be tough but if we can step up and start to peak now, we'll be fine. They're unpredictable we've got to combat that by defending up as well as we can."