RAF game shapes as North Otago trial

NORTH Otago will test itself against some real highfliers tomorrow afternoon.

The Royal Air Force team is touring with the British and Irish Lions and will stop in Oamaru for a match against the Old Golds at Whitestone Contracting Stadium.

Former North Otago representative Stu Philpott is the fitness trainer for the RAF team, so there is a local link to the side.

The game shapes as a stern challenge for the North Otago side with many of the players backing up from club rugby a day earlier, coach Nigel Walsh said.

‘‘In saying that, we’ve picked a reasonable sort of a squad there and they’ll all get a run,’’ he said.

‘‘It is sort of a trial. We had the Town and Country match last weekend which went very, very well. Country came out on top, winning that one 3329.

‘‘That was not what we thought would have happened with the strength of the Town team.’’

Country’s surprise victory has created a few selection dilemmas for Walsh.

‘‘What I would say is there is a lot of depth in the North Otago region and there are a lot of people putting their hands up wanting to be part of the Heartland Championship this year. It is very, very promising.’’

North Otago plans to make a decision on which loan players it will bring into the squad in the next month or so.

Last year Taieri first fiveeighth Josh Casey and University midfielder Shae Tucker were among the loan players.

‘‘We have a wee bit of time to do that but we won’t be leaving it too long because we want to get them in and training with the boys as soon as we can.’’