Bay of Plenty's halfback headaches have returned again with Ruki Tipuna in doubt for Saturday's match with Southland in Rotorua.
Tipuna had problems with the AC joint in his left shoulder during the Wellington match last week and hurt the same shoulder in the 29-24 win over Northland on Saturday.
Having already
lost key No9 Kevin Senio for the season - he had his broken ankle operated on last week - coaching staff will be sweating on Tipuna's availability and the results of a scan in the next few days.
The one consolation is the way Charles Hubbard has slotted into the side after starting against Wellington and coming on against Northland. At this stage development halfback Sam Moon has not been called in but is next in line.
Simms Davison's knee ligament strain has steadily improved and the prop may also be considered for Saturday's match depending on how he gets through training.
The team is training at Blue Chip Stadium today and in Rotorua tomorrow.
Securing five points against Southland - who have only won once this season - is criticalfor Bay of Plenty's semifinalaspirations.
The Bay of Plenty development team crashed to a woeful 27-15 loss to Northland `B' on Saturday, their fourth loss in as many games.
The Bay of Plenty side have struggled in the wake of several key players being promoted into the senior side but still should have easily accounted for their opponents, who recorded their first win of the season.
Poor first-up tackling marred Bay of Plenty's effort, especially in the second half after they'd drawn level at 5-5.
The only positives were the return of Steamers centre Allan Bunting from injury - he played on the wing for most of the game - and a promising start from young first-five Simon Rolleston.
Northland B 27 (Hayden Hutchinson 2, Eric Abraham, Mark Backhurst tries; Quin Butler pen, 2 cons), Bay of Plenty B 15 (Ray Isara. Sio Pule'anga try; Tom Woods pen, con). HT: 5-0.Auckland West have retained the Bill McLaren under-13 title after a narrow win over Bay of Plenty in Whakatane. In deteriorating conditions Auckland dominated set play and with a strong kicking game won 17-12 at Rugby Park last week.
