Most of reps out ill or with injuries

A tongue-in-cheek comment from selector Peter Russell that he may have to toss a coin to see who is in his Wairarapa-Bush rugby side to play a Wellington XV at Memorial Park, Masterton in seven days might actually have a ring of truth to it.
At least seven leading contenders for places in the starting XV have already been ruled out through injury and three others are on the "doubtful starter" list.
It's a situation which has Russell delaying the "official" naming of his squad from today to Thursday morning and even that deadline could be difficult to make.
"You just don't expect to have so many injury hassles at this early stage of the season," Russell said. "You do tend to get the odd muscle strain or two but a lot of ours are more long term than that. It's been quite freakish in that respect."
Definitely out of the reckoning for the Wellington match are four loose forwards who have been making a big impact at club level ? Sam Henderson and Damon Neal from Gladstone and Brodie Duffin and Joe Harwood from Carterton.
Appendicitis threatens to sideline Henderson for up to six weeks while Neal has a broken cheekbone, Harwood a calf strain and Duffin an achilles tear.
One of the strong men of the front row, Eketahuna prop Brendan Walker, is being troubled by a back injury, Carterton utility back Glen Bunny has an ankle in plaster and the regular fullback in last season's Wairarapa-Bush NPC squad Richard Carroll (Pioneer) has a hip problem which may well see him miss the complete 2005 season.
In the "doubtful starter" category for the Wellington match through more minor injuries are Eketahuna wing Jorgi Tamani, Marist utility back Jaco Pieterse and Greytown lock-cum-loosie Norm Henriksen.
It is an absolute certainty then that when Russell does name his 21-strong squad for next Tuesday's game it will include a healthy number of new faces.
He has been impressed with the form shown by backs John Uys (Gladstone), John Dodd (Gladstone), Tommy Harmon (Carterton) and Fitti Foulouse (Masterton Red Star) on the club scene and they seem sure to be part of the action.
With Carroll missing, Uys has to have the inside running for the fullback berth, Dodd can basically play anywhere in the backline, second-five Harmon demonstrated his attacking skills by scoring a hat-trick of tries on Saturday and Foulouse has displayed any amount of speed and aggression on the wing.
In the forwards you can expect former Wellington rep Jon Tanner (Greytown-Tuhirangi) to come into the front row, Gladstone's Steve Wilkinson to be tried at lock and Pioneer's Nathan Rolls and Gladstone's Rob Dick to be among the loosies.
It seems very likely too that last season's Wairarapa-Bush captain Mike Robinson will be on deck again. He is currently captaining Upper Hutt in the Wellington club competition and has signified his intention to make himself available for Wairarapa-Bush in 2005. His experience would be invaluable, especially with the playing resources so depleted at the present time.
Also sure to be part of Russell's plans in the slightly longer term will be Bart Viguurs, a first-five who has played for Holland in the European Cup competition. He is expected to join up with the Greytown-Tuhirangi club within the next fortnight or so.