Town and Country teams named

The Town and Country rugby teams have been named for the annual clash on Saturday, May 30.

The game will be played at Rugby Park in Invercargill and is the curtain-raiser to the Highlanders-Chiefs Super Rugby game.

Southland coach Brad Mooar has previously stated the game will be used in the selection process for the Stags.

It will also be used to assess players for the Southland B team.

Previously Town and Country teams have been selected to play games in a South Island second tier provincial competition, which is played during the Stags season.

However, this year it has been decided to enter just a Southland B team to play in that competition.

Mooar said previously those teams had struggled for numbers and he wanted to create more competition for selection in Southland’s second tier team.

‘‘What we have found is the coaches of those two teams were ringing around and trying to fill teams and ended up using heaps of players.’’ Mooar said.

‘‘We want coaches coaching and players playing, so it’s about providing them with a proper programme.

‘‘It is a high performance side, it is about performance and not just about participating in a competition.

‘‘So for the guys that are in the Stags, but are not playing that week, [Southland B] is our next strongest side for them to go into. Rather than, ‘you are a country guy so you go to the Country team’, or ‘you are a town guy so you go to the Town team’.’’

Woodlands coach Damien Pine has been appointed Southland B coach and he will be assisted by Mal Dermody.

Pine, Dermody, Mooar and Jeff Clearwater will select the Southland B team.

Mooar said Clearwater’s involvement was important because he had a good knowledge of the country players.

Southland Country will still play their traditional fixtures against Otago Country and Canterbury Country before the Southland B team is selected.