Rugby: Naholo and Treeby back to help mark milestones

Highlander Waisake Naholo scores a try during the Super 15 Rugby match between Highlanders and...
Highlander Waisake Naholo scores a try during the Super 15 Rugby match between Highlanders and the Stormers at the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Photo by ODT.
The Highlanders should not struggle for motivation when they take on the Force in Perth tomorrow night.

The side will welcome back try-scoring winger Waisake Naholo into its starting team while second five-eighth Shaun Treeby comes back into the team after shrugging off an ankle injury.

Treeby, who has not played for just under a month, after he rolled his ankle in the loss to the Brumbies, replaces Richard Buckman, who moves to the reserves.

Naholo missed last week's win over the Cheetahs as he was troubled by a heel complaint but has been given the all-clear to get back on the field.

The match will be a big occasion for the Highlanders. It is co-captain Ben Smith's 100th game for the franchise and flanker John Hardie's 50th game.

Hardie, who made his debut in 2010, has had a troubled past couple of years with injury and seemed to have a bleak season in front of him when he badly dislocated his ankle in late March.

But he has worked hard on his recovery and made a return to the field last week, impressing in the big victory over the Cheetahs.

The match looms as a key game for the Highlanders side.

It sits fifth on the ladder on 39 points. If it wins convincingly and other sides around it go down and do not pick up bonus points, the side would be in a sound position going into the final three games of the round robin, all of them in New Zealand.

Loose forward Elliot Dixon has dropped out of the reserves and returned to New Zealand to be with his partner, Paige, who is due to give birth to a baby boy in the coming days.

Gareth Evans will continue to play on the blindside flank and will want to stay on a run in which he has scored a try in each of the past three games.

The Force side is coming off a bye and sits bottom of the table.

But confidence should be high after it scored a win over the Waratahs in its last game.

The side has welcomed key flanker and captain Matt Hodgson back from injury in the past couple of weeks and he appears to have made plenty of difference to the Force side. Fullback Dane Haylett-Petty returns to the side after missing the Waratahs match because of a groin injury.

The loose forward trio of captain Matt Hodgson, No 8 Ben McCalman and Angus Cottrell form an impressive combination.

 


Highlanders v Force
Perth, tomorrow, 11.45pm

Highlanders: Ben Smith (co-captain), Waisake Naholo, Malakai Fekitoa, Shaun Treeby, Patrick Osborne, Lima Sopoaga, Aaron Smith, Nasi Manu (co-captain), John Hardie, Gareth Evans, Mark Reddish, Alex Ainley, Josh Hohneck, Liam Coltman, Kane Hames. Reserves: Ash Dixon, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Ross Geldenhuys, Tom Franklin, Dan Pryor, Fumiaki Tanaka, Richard Buckman, Marty Banks.

Force: Dane Haylett-Petty, Luke Morahan, Marchel Brache, Kyle Godwin, Nick Cummins, Sias Ebersohn, Ryan Louwrens, Ben McCalman, Matt Hodgson (captain), Angus Cottrell, Adam Coleman, Steve Mafi, Tetara Faulkner, Nathan Charles, Pek Cowan. Reserves: Heath Tessman, Chris Heiberg, Guy Millar, Sam Wykes, Kane Koteka, Alby Mathewson, Luke Burton, Brad Lacey.


 

Add a Comment