Rugby: Umaga fit and raring to go

All Black wing Tana Umaga will be back and Wellington will have an established New Zealand Colts combination to replace the injured Filo Tiatia and Jason Spice in Friday night's key NPC rugby match against Auckland in Wellington.

Young Wellington Colts halfback James King is the surprise choice to replace Spice, while Jerry Collins moves back to No 8 as expected.

The pair last played together in the Southern Hemisphere Colts final, when New Zealand soundly beat South Africa at Eden Park in the curtainraiser to the second All Blacks-Scotland test.

Spice could be out for a couple of weeks after spraining his ankle late in Saturday night's 41-13 win over Taranaki. But that will be established early next week.

While Riki Flutey has done a superb job when he has replaced Spice in the past two years, it seems coach Dave Rennie and assistant Graham Mourie believe King's specialist tag gives him an edge - despite his lack of NPC experience.

Rennie said Flutey's utility value was needed on the subs' bench.

"We favour King at this stage because he played well for the New Zealand Colts and he clears the ball so well," Rennie said.

The fact that King and Collins were the halfback-No 8 pairing for the Colts also seems to have counted in King's favour. "The key thing against Auckland will be combination and really snappy distribution," Rennie said.

Rennie also fancies Flutey as a first five-eighths more than a halfback.

Tiatia's replacement, Semo Sititi, will start his first NPC match, playing No 6, with Collins moving to No 8.

In some good news for Wellington leading up to the match at Westpac Trust Stadium, Umaga galloped through training without a worry and is available for selection after missing the last two matches with a groin injury.

Wellington (likely team): Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga, Alama Ieremia, Jonah Lomu, Jason O'Halloran, David Holwell, James King, Jerry Collins, Kupu Vanisi, Dion Waller, Inoke Afeaki, Semo Sititi, Mike Edwards, Norm Hewitt (capt), Kevin Yates.

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All Black hooker Anton Oliver is likely to miss Otago's next two games as he recovers from a neck muscle injury.

Oliver sat out Otago's 22-13 win over Counties-Manukau last weekend and is a definite non-starter against Northland at Carisbrook on Saturday.

He also seems unlikely to play against Taranaki in New Plymouth on September 16.

- NZPA