McCaw set to return for Canterbury

Richie McCaw

Canterbury are likely to be boosted by the return of All Blacks captain Richie McCaw for their Air New Zealand Cup quarterfinal away rugby match against Wellington on Friday night.

McCaw has been resting since taking a battering in the Tri-Nations series but was fresh at a team training session this morning.

Prop Campbell Johnstone said part of the session involved getting McCaw up to speed with lineouts and other moves, and he was a welcome presence.

"Just having him at training is good, he's full of bubble," Johnstone said.

But there are injury concerns with hooker Corey Flynn and centre Casey Laulala both likely to be out following incidents in their team's 27-22 win against Auckland on Saturday night.

Flynn suffered an ankle strain and Laulala took a knock to the head in a clash with Joe Rokocoko.

The injuries mean Tone Kopelani is likely to replace Flynn and a backline shuffle could be needed to cover for Laulala's absence.

Wellington overcame an error-ridden first half to beat Otago 21-14 in Dunedin on Friday night and Johnstone said there appeared to have been some shakiness in all the teams in the competition.

"But I think there is going to be some great rugby this weekend with the quarterfinals on because of the fact it's do or die. Everyone is going to bring everything they've got.

"They (Wellington) are a bit of a nemesis, we haven't had that many good results up there in the past, so we've definitely got something to prove there."

Although they're through to the quarters, Canterbury haven't been quite as dominant in the competition as what their fans have come to expect.

Johnstone admitted that after a strong first hal f against Auckland, they may have been guilty of taking their foot off the throat.

"In saying that, Auckland came out and picked their game up. But we can't afford to do that now as it's a do or die situation."

Canterbury came up one try short of a bonus point and ended even with Wellington on points, but the latter secured the home game because of their win against Canterbury earlier in the competition.

"We needed the five points to get a home game but realistically we went into that game wanting to beat Auckland. We wanted to win and to be honest we didn't care how we got it," Johnstone said.

- NZPA