Wellington v Southland
Wellington, 7.05 tonight
Southland co-coach Simon Culhane is maintaining his sense of humour ahead of tonight's Air NZ Cup rugby semifinal against bogey-team Wellington at the Cake Tin.
After last week's raid on Canterbury, which brought the Ranfurly Shield to the deep south for the first time in 50 years, getting up to beat Wellington at home could prove tough for Southland.
But Culhane feels the side have managed to re-focus. "Obviously we've had to sober up pretty quickly," he said in a nod to three days of celebrations after the shield's arrival.
Culhane's confident the players have been straightened out since after being made to sweat beer in training this week.
It will be Southland's second straight semifinal, but their record against Wellington contains nothing to lift their spirits.
Wellington have won their past five games against Southland, including 28-19 in last year's semifinal and 32-13 in their most recent meeting, last month.
Wellington coach Jamie Joseph has named Piri Weepu at No 10, from where the All Black halfback also played a major role in last year's win over Southland.
"He's dangerous and we'll have to take that into account - his matchup with our Robbie Robinson will be interesting," Culhane said.
This season, Southland have moved away from a forward-orientated approach, turning to a hard-running backline in which midfielders Kendrick Lynn and Jason Kawau have been outstanding.
WELLINGTON v SOUTHLAND
Auckland
Apoua Stewart
David Smith
Alapati Leuia
Shaun Treeby
Hosea Gear
Piri Weepu
Alby Mathewson
Mathew Luamanu
Serge Lilo
Victor Vito
Daniel Ramsay
Jacob Ellison (c)
Anthony Perenise
Ged Robinson
John Schwalger
Reserves: Dane Coles, Arden David-Perrot, Mark Reddish, Scott Fuglistaller, Fa'atonu Fili, Robert Fruean, Daniel Kirkpatrick.
Southland
Glen Horton
Matt Saunders
Kenny Lynn
Jason Kawau
Tony Koonwaiyou
Robbie Robinson
Scott Cowan
Hua Tamariki
Tim Boys
John Hardie
Joe Tuineau
Josh Beckhuis
Chris King
Jason Rutledge
Jamie Mackintosh (c)
Reserves: Brayden Mitchell, Fai Mika, Dave Gannon, Dion Bates, Sonny Rangitoheriri, Seminar Manu, James Wilson
- NZPA
