Rugby: Kahukura expect to be tested at Ruatoki

CHALLENGE: Kahukura coach Wayne Fell expects his side to be tested against Ruatoki on Saturday. PHOTO/FILE

Despite beating Ruatoki 26-18 at home earlier this season, Kahukura coach Wayne Fell is expecting a tougher contest when they play them away.Heading into today's match, both teams have won one and lost one game in the second round of the Division 1 competition, however Ruatoki sit higher on the table thanks to three bonus points.

Last week Ruatoki beat Waimana 24-17 while Kahukura suffered a 33-17 defeat at the hands of Te Teko.

"At this stage of this season we have a huge amount of injuries which has put a strain on our player resources.

"We'll go down there, we've got some structures we've tried to stick to all year, and we'll try and play a fairly structured game down there against them.

"They'll be very strong at home and they're probably buoyed by a couple of wins.

"It'll be a fairly brutal game, they've got some pretty hard runners, but we showed when we played them at home we can get up against them," said Fell.

Due to the number of injuries within the squad Kahukura has a mixture of youth and experience playing today.

"We've got a couple of older heads playing which brings a bit more experience and confidence.

"Our set-pieces are pretty good, we scrum very well.

"We have a couple of young front rowers - Kasey Simpkins joined us straight out of Western Heights and Jordan Shelford is in his early 20s.

"We're pretty happy to have them and they've done well. They're a couple of young props and they're good for our club.

"It's huge to get a relationship with the local schools, there are some great young players around and there's a bit of competition between the clubs."

Baywide Division 1 draw:
Saturday
Kick-off: 2.45pm
Ruatoki v Kahukura at Tuhoe Park
Rangiuru v Papamoa at Centennial Park
Judea v Waimana at Maharaia Winiata Memorial Park
Te Teko v Katikati at Dunderdale Park