It looks as if Darren Munro will get his chance to show his No8 skills for Wanganui in tomorrow's Heartland Championship match against Poverty Bay.
Munro came off the bench last week because he could not train on the Tuesday night, but looked extremely good in his 30 minutes against Horowhenua Kapiti.
Andrew Evans goes to the bench but coach Jason Caskey is merely pursuing a policy of giving everyone playing time in the loose forwards.
"I want to keep them all playing, and give all of them game time," Caskey said. "Munro had a rest last week and did well when he came on. It's no reflection on Evans at all - you don't lose anything with any of these guys."
Another reason for game time at No8 for Munro is the departure of Nemani Nagusa to Fiji. That left four loosies in the squad, with Evans the No1 choice at the back of the scrum.
"Darren looks the logical back-up for Evans at No8, so he needs game time," said Caskey.
Vaan Rauhina was bracketed with young Utiku prop Keith Shaw before training last night, and Rauhina (ankle problem) had to get through training unscathed to get the starting spot. But it looked more likely that Shaw would make his debut.
Caskey is enthused about his workrate: "He deserves an opportunity, he's only young and he's the sort who can play 80 minutes and do it easy."
So far Wanganui have been prevented - by injury and format changes to the scrum machine - from having a decent scrum session, and that has shown on match day.
Caskey is more interested in a live scrumming session.
"A scrum machine's a little bit like a tackle bag - they don't hit back," he said.
Tremaine Gilbert, a regular second-five so far, takes his turn at getting a run in the Development team, allowing the chance to put imported players Rhema Sgaote and Saul Chase together.
That allows Moli Sagapolutele to return to the wing.
But they may get limited chances anyway, if the forecast rain settles in.
Team
Steelform Wanganui: Ace Malo, Simon Dibben, Saul Chase, Rhema Sagote, Moli Sagapolutele, Marki Davis, Sean Brown, Darren Munro, Peter Rowe (capt), Fraser Hammond, Jon Smyth, Andrew Retallick, Shaun McDonough, Roman Tutauha, Vaan Rauhina/Keith Shaw.
Substitutes: Junior Tume, Shaw/Rauhina, Nick Cranston, Andrew Evans, Matthew Koubaridis, Vance Pereka, Johnny Mow.Rugby