Past success a boost for Stags
Stags centre James Wilson has played for Southland in two successful Ranfurly Shield challenges and is now hoping for a third win in Hamilton tomorrow.
The Stags go into their shield challenge against Waikato as the underdogs but that was the tag they had when beating Canterbury for the shield in 2009 and 2011.
Despite not having won this year, Southland had a lot of up-and-coming players capable of causing an upset tomorrow, Wilson said.
Southland had produced good patches of play in all games this year.
‘‘If we can string it together [for 80 minutes], anything is possible,’’ Wilson said.
‘‘It’s a great opportunity for the boys to play in a Ranfurly Shield game.’’
Wilson trained lightly this week after suffering a minor hamstring injury early in the game against Northland in Whangarei last Thursday. Northland won the game 26-10.
Meanwhile, flanker Phil Halder will make a welcome return to Stags team tomorrow. He missed the Northland match with a knee injury, but is a timely addition as coach Dave Hewett plots to steal the log of wood away from Waikato.
‘‘He’s an important part of this team and it’s great to have him back,’’ Hewett said.
The Stags will be without cocaptain Flynn Thomas for up to four weeks due to ongoing shoulder problems. ‘‘We’ve had advice from his specialist that he needs to have four weeks off and it’s important that we consider his future,’’ Hewett said.
‘‘We are lucky that we have able replacements in the form of Jesse MacDonald and Andrew Ready ready to go.’’