By CHRIS RATTUE
Centre Richard Kahui has been handed the troublesome wing job for Waikato's NPC semifinal tilt against Wellington tomorrow night.
The other main prospect, longtime Waikato and Chiefs wing Roger Randle, will make his comeback from injury on the bench.
The country was still eagerly anticipating the 2003 World Cup test
season when Randle last donned a pair of rugby boots in real anger.
That was at the end of the Super 12, when he injured an Achilles tendon while scoring a try in Cape Town.
Nearly 18 months later, after complications extended the layoff, long-term injuries to wings Sitiveni Sivivatu and Solo Korovata have dramatically put the 30-year-old Randle on the semifinal bench after a handful of B appearances.
Kahui, a New Zealand under-19 selection this year, always shaped as the more likely starting prospect for the wing, where he is set to mark flying Samoan Lome Fa'atau.
The Waikato team press release enthused that Kahui was "no stranger to the wing position having played there for nearly half of the match against Taranaki last Saturday".
This is hardly an imposing CV, and more an indication that Waikato's resources have been severely stretched.
Halfback Byron Kelleher and lock Dave Duley make returns via the bench, but the backline has a cobbled-together look, with only David Hill, Keith Lowen and Sosene Anesi original first-string selections.
Paddy O'Brien ref the Wellington semifinal, and Steve Walsh Saturday night's match between Canterbury and Bay of Plenty in Christchurch.
Meanwhile Otago is unrepentant for nabbing BoP backs Grant McQuoid and Rua Tipoki ahead of their semifinal, NZPA reports.
NPC fixtures, results and standings
Division One | Division Two | Division Three
