Star player out of Shield challenge

Last season's NPC third division player of the year, Simanu Simanu has withdrawn from the Wairarapa-Bush rugby team to challenge Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield at Jade Stadium, Christchurch tomorrow.
Despite being a star act for his club Eketahuna in their crucial senior first division win over Marist on Saturday. Simanu has decided his knee injury has not recovered sufficiently enough for him to do justice to himself or his team.
And while Wairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell is disappointed to lose his team's most potent attacker and aggressive defender he is quite happy to accept Simanu's take on the situation.
"He (Simanu) just doesn't think he is fit enough to go into a Shield game and we respect his opinion," Russell said. "No one knows better than him whether fitness is an issue and obviously he believes it is."
Simanu's absence means Russell has had to rejuggle his backline for tomorrow's match with Pioneer youngster Tommy Harmon being moved from wing to centre and his place on the wing being taken by Marist's Lawrence Matthews.
With the Canterbury midfield backs making such a huge impression in their team's 80-15- demolition of South Canterbury in their opening Shield challenge for the 2006 season just last Tuesday it will be a huge ask for Harmon, in particular, but Russell is confident he will do a good job.
"He's got the natural aggression you need to combat the sort of talent he will come up against and providing the communication around him is up to standard I'm sure he will front up ok," he said.
Russell doesn't expect the knee injury which saw first-five Patrick Rimene leave the field near halftime while playing for Marist against Eketahuna on Saturday to stop him from playing a full part in tomorrow's game.
He said Rimene had come through a light run yesterday without too much pain and another couple of days should have him back to full fitness.
If, however, Rimene is ruled out it will be a case of de ja vu as he seemed certain to be part of the Wairarapa-Bush side which challenged the then holders Waikato for the Shield back in 1999 but an injury suffered in the week prior to the game took him out the reckoning.
The withdrawal of Rimene would mean another rejuggle of the rearguard with Hamish McKenzie moving from halfback to first-five and James Bruce starting at halfback. Bruce is the only survivor from that 1999 challenge in tomorrow's squad.
The good news in the forward selection for the Jade Stadium match is that ever-reliable Greytown-Tuhirangi prop Dylan Higgison has recovered from his knee injury and will take his place in the front row alongside clubmate Brett Rudman and captain Joe Harwood
Russell said the feeling in the Wairarapa-Bush camp at yesterday's training session was one of excitement with the players keen to perform well against the country's top provincial side.
"Our focus is all about getting our own systems into play and not worrying too much about how strong Canterbury is in this area or that area," he said.
"Obviously we will look to nullify their strengths to some degree but not to the point where it effects how we want to play the game ourselves."
Russell said the Wairarapa-Bush tactics would be more offensive than defensive with quick movement of the ball away from the set pieces a prime objective.
"The more we can break the game up the better for us," he said. "Letting them get into rhythm early on would be bad news, that's what we have to avoid."