Rugby: Waldrom out to make up ground on Latimer

Hurricanes openside Scott Waldrom wants to show why he was picked ahead of Tanerau Latimer for the All Blacks' season-ending tour last year. Photo / Getty Images

Battles within the loose forward war are expected to go a long way towards deciding the winners of tomorrow's Chiefs-Hurricanes Super 14 rugby semifinal in Hamilton.

The Hurricanes are adamant they were eclipsed at the breakdown when the teams met at Waikato Stadium 12 days ago, with that authority translating into a deserved 16-8 win for the hosts.

Chiefs blindside flanker Liam Messam has been the pick of New Zealand loose forwards in this year's competition, along with Highlanders No 6 Adam Thomson, with both players apparently showing huge benefits from their spells with the All Blacks in 2008.

Messam will mark dynamic Hurricanes blindside Victor Vito while reliable Chiefs openside Tanerau Latimer and blockbusting No 8 Sione Lauaki match up against experienced pair Scott Waldrom and Rodney So'oialo respectively.

The clash of the opensides is perhaps the most fascinating, with Waldrom having pipped Latimer to the All Blacks jersey in what amounted to a head-to-head battle in the Air NZ Cup six months ago.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry said better form in the last couple of weeks won Waldrom the nod to be Richie McCaw's backup on the season-ending tour.

Whether Henry wants a second specialist openside in his squad for the June tests against France and Italy remains to be seen but if he does, it is likely the same two contenders are highest on his list.

Waldrom candidly believes he is a yard behind the ultra-consistent Latimer at this stage of the campaign and hopes to make up ground tomorrow night.

"He's playing really well, he's had a good season again," Waldrom said.

"I haven't been completely happy with the way I've been playing. Hopefully I can get out there and prove a bit of a point and show the reason why I was picked ahead of him last year."

However, Waldrom will have other things on his mind too, such as preventing Lauaki from becoming an influential figure.

"If he gets front foot ball and gets into space, he definitely creates opportunities for them," he said of the mercurial Chiefs ball-runner.

"We've got to shut down space and make sure he's involved as little as possible. The more he's involved, the better they tend to go."

Hurricanes captain So'oialo didn't have his happiest night against the Chiefs in round 13 and knows it won't be easy to reverse their fortunes.

"They probably have the best loose forward trio in New Zealand at the moment but if you focus too much on individuals, you're going to get unstuck," he said.

"They've got a great tight five and no one talks too much about them.

"And their backs are some of the classiest backs in the world. They have a lot of talent right through."

- NZPA