QBE Insurance North Harbour team named to play Waikato
North Harbour Stadium this Saturday, 4 September – kick off 7.35pm.
Head coach Craig Dowd is optimistic about his team’s chances against Waikato this weekend and says they are looking forward to the visit from the Mooloo men.
“We know this is a good Waikato side and this game will be a good measure of us. We have constructed some good rugby to this stage and are going into this game looking to build on some key areas we need to improve on.
“After the Bay of Plenty game we have worked on holding onto the ball. We made 15 handling errors in that game and that is just not good enough. We are trying to play more rugby but sometimes high risk comes with more errors. The rewards are there if we get it right so we are not going to go away from playing our style, but we want to ensure we eliminate the errors and ensure our defensive systems are in place.”
Dowd has made some changes to his starting line-up for the challenge from Waikato.
Luke McAlister moves out one spot to second-five, with Michael Harris resuming in the No 10 jersey. Nafi Tuitavake will start on the left wing, which Dowd says is a reward for his excellent form last week, while Matt Luamanu takes over from the injured Tom Chamberlain at blindside flanker.
QBE Insurance North Harbour team to play Waikato:
1 Michael Reid (Capt)
2 James Parsons
3 Ben Afeaki
4 James King
5 Anthony Boric
6 Matt Luamanu
7 Malakai Ravulo
8 Richard Mayhew
9 Chris Smylie
10 Michael Harris
11 Nafi Tuitavake
12 Luke McAlister
13 Jack Tarrant
14 Alipate Fatafehi
15 Jack McPhee
Reserves:
16 Manu Leiataua
17 James Afoa
18 Filo Paulo
19 Scott Uren
20 Nalu Tuigamala
21 Ben Botica
22 Brendon Watt
Best value entertainment in Auckland. Pre-purchase your tickets and save. Adults from $10 and children just $5. Visit www.ticketdirect.co.nz or call 0800 4 TICKET (842 538). And kids, first 500 kids through the gate a FREE gift from the Merchandise Stand.
Head down to North Harbour Stadium earlier to catch North Harbour Development XV take on Waikato 2nd XV, kick off 5.15pm.
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