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Waikato takes on Southland in their opening clash of ITM Cup 2011- Match Preview

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Waikato takes on Southland in their opening clash of ITM Cup 2011- Match Preview
ITM Cup 2011 started on July 14 as Otago thumped the North Harbour side in the opening match of the event, in Carisbrook Stadium, Dunedin. The second match of the competition will be played on July 15, between Waikato and Southland, in Rugby Park Stadium
in Invercargill. Both sides have announced their starting line ups on July 14 and declared them well prepared for the contest.
Making the announcement for the Waikato side, head coach Chris Gibbes, revealed to local media that they will go with a balanced side for their first match of the tournament. He further said that his side will see two super stars among them for this particular
match. Marty Holah will play for his provincial side after an absence of four years whereas Declan O’Donnell, the promising prospect for New Zealand Sevens will make his debut for Waikato.
Chris Gibbes told reporters that he is hoping for a good start in the tournament and said that, "we are all looking forward to getting our campaign under way for 2011. Southland are a fierce rival of ours and we are expecting a massive arm wrestle in Invercargill,
but we are up for the challenge".
Meanwhile, Southland has also named two Ex-Australian Sevens in their team for today’s clash. The hosting side, Southland, has got a light edge over the Waikato team because in their previous two meetings, the Southland team remained successful. Furthermore,
Southland will have a psychological pressure over their opponents because of home crowd support. However, the Southland side needs to pick their game up as they lost the warm match before the tournament.
The Southland team has been packed with a number of All Blacks players and Robbie Robinson and Matt Saunders will be key men for their team.
The Waikato side, which played the final of the ITM Cup 2010, is the favourite for this clash as they have also got few senior players in their team, including Sitiveni Sivivatu and Stephen Donald. The pair could be very dangerous for their rivals.
The extremely cold weather of Invercargill may be a hurdle both for players and spectators to give their best output for this clash. Rain with icy winds is predicted during the match.
Both sides will go on to the field with the following players:
Waikato: Ben May, Aled de Malmanche, Nathan White (Captain), Toby Lynn, Romana Graham, Matt Vant Leven, Marty Holah, Alex Bradley, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Stephen Donald, Declan O'Donnell, Jackson Willison, Save Tokula, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Trent
Renata.
Reserves:

Marcel Cummings-Toone, Toby Smith, Chris Middleton, Zak Hohneck, Brendon Leonard, Tim Mikkelson, Rena Schuster, Ted Tauroa.
Southland: Robbie Robinson, Mark Wells, Kendrick Lynn, Matt Saunders, Glen Horton, Scott Eade, Scott Cowan, Elliot Dixon, John Hardie, Alex Taylor, Ben Nally, Josh Bekhuis, Chris King, Jason Rutledge, Jamie Mackintosh (c).
Reserves:

David Hall, Nic Barrett, Joe Tuineau, Kaleni Taetuli, Sonny Rangitoheriri, James Lew, Tim Cornforth, Micheal Peterson.
 

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