Marcel tipped to boost team
South Canterbury coach Chester Scott has rung the changes for his final preseason game before the Heartland Championships kicks off.
Scott said it was just a chance to give all his squad a start rather than a reflection of last weekend’s result.
South Canterbury will face Marlborough in Hanmer tomorrow after Nelson Bays pulled out because of a Seddon Shield challenge against Buller.
The game will take place almost 40 years to the day since South Canterbury lifted the Ranfurly Shield off the Red Devils.
The feature of the team is the arrival of lock Simon Marcel from Pukekohe who will start.
The 24-year-old was in the Counties Manukau development team and played for the Cook Islands.
He played in their test against Fiji this year and was also in the Cook Islands sevens team at the Commonwealth Games.
Scott has got Marcel through former South Canterbury rugby manager Cam Kilgour, who now manages the Cook Islands team.
Kilgour said he rated Marcel.
‘‘He is a good height and size and is a skilful player.
‘‘Marcel has also played semiprofessional rugby in Scotland.’’ Scott was happy to have Marcel on board because he has struggled to attract anyone decent to commit to South Canterbury as a loan player, a week out from the competition’s kickoff.
Unlike Mid Canterbury and North Otago, the South Canterbury Rugby Union is not willing to splash any cash or other inducements to attract players.
Our neighbours also utilise their chief executives to do the negotiations, a position South Canterbury is still to fill.
Scott said he had talked to dozens of players, some who had shown interest but then kept their options open or decided against it.
‘‘It’s been frustrating but that is the reality.’’
While South Canterbury has a good base of players, highly rated loan players are the key to a province’s success, as was proved by Mid Canterbury last season when they lifted the Meads Cup, and put 61 points on South Canterbury last weekend.
Scott said despite the loss the side remained positive.
‘‘The team was disappointed by the size of the loss but everyone could see the issues and they are fixable.’’
Scott said good on-field communication and organisation were the two keys.
A big change will be Miles Medlicott stepping into the crucial first five-eighth spot with Kurt Rooney moving out one.
The one-off experiment with Angus Compton-Bowyer, the English first-five from Hawke’s Bay, appears to have run its course.
Scott has also bracketed a couple of players, fullback Jared Trevathan and lock Matt Stewart, who have niggling injuries.