Goodger's late shot

James Goodger will be out to prove a point when he plays for the New Zealand Marist rugby side in Auckland on Saturday.

Despite being one of the success stories of a Wairarapa-Bush team which made it to the Meads Cup semifinals, flanker Goodger's name was missing when the national Heartland squad to undertake a two-match tour of Samoa was named last week.

But the Heartland side, which includes two Wairarapa-Bush players, wingers Cameron Hayton and Nathan Hunt, confront New Zealand Marist on Saturday in their only warm-up game before leaving these shores.

That gives Goodger a royal opportunity to show the selectors the error of their ways.

Goodger was captain of Masterton Marist's senior side this season and two younger members of that club, Curtis Krivan and Justin Strang, will be involved in a North v South Marist under-13s game.

That match will be the curtain-raiser to the New Zealand Marist v New Zealand Heartland game.

They have both been included in the southern line-up selected from the lower North Island and all of the South Island.

Masterton Marist JAB delegate Maiana Mutu said Krivan and Strang were very excited about the opportunity to travel to Auckland and perform on such a big stage.

Masterton are one of only two clubs to have two players named in the southern side.

Another Masterton Marist player, Kieran O'Brien, was part of the New Zealand Marist colts side which undertook a four-match internal tour this season.

They beat an Old Boys Marist invitation XV 22-14, Wairoa sub-union colts 51-17 and Napier Old Boys Marist XV 47-13 and lost to Hawke's Bay under-20s 43-24.