RUGBY - Winger playing a waiting game

It's all a waiting game now for Rene Ranger as he counts the hours until Sunday when All Black coach Graham Henry names his squad for the upcoming Tri-Series.
Kaiwaka's most recognisable resident is one of the few Blues players to have emerged from a below-average, Super-14 season with an enhanced reputation and there has been some speculation he may feature in the All Black side after an injury to incumbent winger Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Ranger had heard about the media reports but, at this stage, he hasn't had any calls from Henry - nor did he really expect one.
"You never know, the last thing I want to do is get my hopes up but if it happens, it happens and I'll be ready," he said
"I'm pretty stoked to be recognised by people as someone who could be an All Black but we'll just have to see if that's the case."
The 21-year-old is certainly in the frame and underwent fitness testing with All Blacks coaching staff on Wednesday and again yesterday at Waitakere.
"It was the Auckland-based All Blacks and junior All Blacks with a few others like Israel Dagg also there, I'm going back for conditioning today," he said.
Northland coach Bryce Woodward believes selection into the junior All Blacks seems a more likely outcome for the promising winger, with a more realistic aim, a place on the end of year All Black tour.
"It wouldn't surprise me either way, sometimes their selections are conservative and sometimes they're not," he said.
"If I was a betting man, I'd suggest the juniors would be more likely and he'd be a better bet for the end of year tour."
Woodward owned up immediately to the possibility that there might be some wishful thinking in his conclusion.
"Certainly we want Rene to be an All Black, but for us it would be nicer at the end of the year rather than now," he said.
If Ranger is selected then he could miss the beginning of the Air New Zealand Cup, leaving Woodward without one of his main strike weapons.
Ranger expects to have a run for his club side against Hora Hora this weekend in Whangarei and thinks the home side will put up a better performance than they did in the first round when Wellsford put them to the sword 60-0.
"I've heard they've been playing pretty well and I think they've got some of their key players like Warren Dunn back, so they'll be a challenge for us."
Wellsford are on top of the points table, with Mid Northern, Hikurangi and Mid Western all close behind with Hora Hora back in fifth place seven points adrift of the leaders - adding to the significance of tomorrow's match.
Hikurangi host Mid Western in another important top-of-the-table match, while Mid Northern travel to Kensington Park to take on Marist. The Western Sharks will be eager to take all the points at home against lowly Waipu, while Kamo face another tough challenge against Old Boys, who went close to beating Wellsford last week.
Harding Shield action returns on Queens Birthday Monday with Whangarei taking on the Bay of Islands at Hukeranui. The match between Mangonui and Northern Wairoa has been postponed due to the Southern Rugby Club's 125th anniversary celebrations.