Nonu to strike from 'out wide'
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:52
The patchy form of All Black centre Ma'a Nonu has seen the burly midfielder being moved out to the wing for the Wellington Lions' Air New Zealand Cup semifinal showdown with Southland at the Westpac Stadium on Friday.
Nonu, who made his first Air NZ Cup start at inside centre for the Lions in the quarterfinal win over Taranaki last week, has struggled throughout the year even when playing for his country.
His disappointing form has followed him into the domestic game and Wellington coach Jamie Joseph has opted for Tane Tu'ipulotu and Tamati Ellison as his midfield combination with All Black outside centre Conrad Smith making his return to provincial rugby from the bench.
All Black forwards Rodney So'oialo (No.7) and Neemia Tialata (prop) have bolstered the Lions when they were named in the staring XV.
So'oialo began the Lions' 50-30 quarterfinal win over Taranaki on the bench, while Tialata was sidelined with sore knees.
Their inclusion means Wellington will field seven past or present All Blacks in their run-on side.
In a rejigged loose forward trio, Chris Masoe shifts over to the blindside flank and So'oialo comes in at No.7, with Thomas Waldrom starting at No.8 with injury ruling out Scott Fuglistaller.
Southland have made one change to the matchday 22 that beat Bay of Plenty 45-11 in Mt Maunganui.
Kendrick Lynn is back from a sternum injury and will start at centre in place of Matt Saunders, who moves to the wing, while Mark Wells drops to the bench.
Teams:
Wellington: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Ma'a Nonu, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Piri Weepu (captain), 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Rodney So'oialo, 6 Chris Masoe, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 John Schwalger, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Ged Robinson, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18
Tim Fairbrother, 19 Api Naikatini, 20 Serge Lilo, 21 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22 Conrad Smith.
Southland: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Matt Saunders, 13 Kendrick Lynn, 12 Jason Kawau, 11 Pehi Te Whare, 10 Blair Stewart, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 David Hall, 7 Tim Boys, 6 Dion Bates, 5 Hoani Macdonald, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Chris King, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (captain).
Replacements: 16 Matt Holloway, 17 Fai Mika, 18 Daniel Ramsay, 19 John Hardie, 20 Scott Cowan, 21 Mark Wells, 22 Willie Rickards.
Date: Friday, October 17
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh
Touch judges: Kelvin Deaker, Vinny Munro
TMO: Ben Skeen
