Will the Chiefs start an all Hawke's Bay Magpies front row in Friday night's Super Rugby clash against the Blues in Hamilton?
If Magpies prop Ben Tameifuna knew the answer he wasn't letting on during the Chiefs media session yesterday. The Chiefs side wasn't to be named until this afternoon.
"I don't know if I'm starting or coming off the bench. I won't mind either and I'm looking forward to whatever role I have ... I won't mind tighthead or loosehead," Tameifuna said.
Considering fellow props Ben Afeaki and Toby Smith are unavailable with a broken forearm and pulled calf respectively, either Tameifuna or Taranaki's Shane Cleaver are tipped to join Magpies hooker and former All Black Hika Elliot and another Magpies prop, Tameifuna's uncle and Tongan World Cup star Sona Taumalolo in the starting frontrow.
"I want to put my foot in the door and hopefully earn a starting spot for the following week's game against the Crusaders in Napier. It will be good to play back in front of the home crowd," Tameifuna said.
The 2009 New Zealand Secondary Schools representative and 2011 Under-20 World Cup winner with the Baby Blacks said he was enjoying the Chiefs environment. With seven Magpies in the squad there's no chance of home sickness nagging him.
Should Tameifuna, 20, be named in the Chiefs starting line-up today it will be another big step for the 134kg bloke who seven years ago was in his own words "a tiny halfback" in the Auckland age group system.
Elliot won't lack motivation on Friday night. He is likely to have game time against World Cup-winning All Black Keven Mealamu.
Chiefs assistant coach and former Magpies co-coach Tom Coventry will only need to remind Elliot of a statement new All Blacks coach Steve Hansen made prior to the start of the Super Rugby comp to fire the Tamatea club player up. Hansen said there wasn't a lot of depth among the country's hookers.
Should Elliot, like Tameifuna a product of Hastings Boys' High School, perform well in a revamped Chiefs frontrow it will be another boost in his quest to return to the All Blacks.
Needless to say Hansen will have achieved his goal too ... the right reaction from a player who wants to prove there is depth among those who wear the No 2 jersey.
The NSW Waratahs have been dealt a fresh injury blow with Wallabies star Berrick Barnes ruled out of Friday's Super Rugby clash with the Melbourne Rebels.
Barnes missed last Saturday's opening round loss to Queensland with a groin injury.