Otago Country and North Otago will chase pride and some much-needed Hawke Cup points when they clash at Molyneux Park this weekend.
An outright loss to Southland in Otago Country's first match before Christmas, then a first-innings win against Mid Canterbury in its last outing, has left work to do for the home side.
Otago Country will be keeping an ear on the South Canterbury-Southland game in Invercargill.
Those teams are tied on 20 points at the top of the zone six table, and Otago Country plays Southland in the final game of the round on February 22-23.
The Country side has a decidedly raw look to it, with several changes from the previous two matches. There is a first outing this season for all-rounder and Otago rugby player Michael Collins, who hails from Queenstown.
Marcus Frost plays his first Hawke Cup match after being involved in the one-day squad earlier in the season. Queenstown batsman Cam Fawkner is a notable omission after featuring heavily with the bat in previous games, and opening bowler Sam Blakely is also a big loss.
North Otago has made two changes to the side which lost to South Canterbury on the first innings last weekend.
Stephan Grobler returns to the team, and Francois Mostert drops to 12th man, while Gary Mahuika comes in to bat at No 6. Jordan Horrell is unavailable.
Hawke Cup: Alexandra, starts today
Otago Country: Ross Anderson, Jarrod Andrew, Chris Beck, Michael Collins, Marcus Frost, Michael Goldstein, Adam Hubber, Kieran Parker, Kyle Paterson, Cameron Rutherford, Fraser Wilson, Sean Windle.
North Otago: Jeremiah Shields, Glynn Cameron, Ben Cant (captain), Stephan Grobler, Jeremy Smith, Gary Mahuika, Duncan Drew, Sean Conlan, Nathan Smith, Matthew Day, Chris Ware, Francois Mostert (12th man).
- Terry O'Neill and Rhys Chamberlain.
