Togia at centre for key Heartland match

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum wants more action for his star attacking back, Junior Togia, in the Heartland championship pool A match with North Otago at Oamaru on Saturday.
Togia has been on the wing in the four Heartland games played to date but he has been switched to centre for this weekend in the hope that greater use can be made of his pace and flair.
Some pundits might question the wisdom of making such a move for a match which Wairarapa-Bush must win to guarantee themselves a Meads Cup spot when the playoffs get under way the following weekend but Tantrum is confident Togia will cope.
"He's got the skills to do the job,we've got no worries there," he said.
Tantrum said he actually had both wing and centre in mind for Togia when the decision was taken to have him as one of Wairarapa-Bush's three "import" players for their current Heartland campaign.
"Yes, he has played more of his rugby on the wing but centre isn't foreign to him, he's had quite a bit of experience in that role too," he said. "He's probably been our best attacker and our best defender, the more influence he can have on the game the better it has to be for us."
Togia's positioning at centre relegates Jordon Watene to the reserves and is just one of a number of interesting backline selections for Saturday's match.
The reliability of his defence has played a big part in Mike Shaw getting the nod over Nathan Couch at second-five but Couch could still be part of the starting line-up as he has been bracketed at halfback with Mike Hollis.
Couch moved from second-five to halfback during the second half of the game with Horowhenua-Kapiti last Saturday and played a leading role in a late onslaught which saw Wairarapa-Bush score two converted tries and close to within six points of their opposition.
Whoever of Couch or Hollis is at halfback won't lack knowledge of their opposite number for in that position for North Otago is Hamish McKenzie,a regular for Wairarapa-Bush over the past three or four seasons when he played his club rugby for Eketahuna.
Replacing Togia on the wing in Oamaru will be Nick Olson, not long returned to the active scene after being sidelined for some weeks by injury.He was a regular try scorer for East Coast on their way to winning the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division club title for the first time in their history.
Olson has extreme pace and along with Togia and the in-form Charlie Walker-Blair makes up a three-quarter line which will certainly be well served in that respect.
Any temptation to also make changes to his pack for Saturday's game have been resisted by Tantrum with the same eight who started the Horowhenua-Kapiti game being given the same responsibility again.
The Wairarapa-Bush team for Oamaru is: Peato Lafaele; Nick Olson, Junior Togia, Mike Shaw, Charlie Walker-Blair; Patrick Rimene; Nathan Couch or Mike Hollis; Mike Spence; Jared Hawkins, James Measor, Tomasi Kedrabuka, Nathan Rolls; Kurt Simmonds, Joe Harwood, Dylan Higgison.Reserves: Couch or Hollis, Dean Grant, Jordon Watene, Richard Puddy, Brett Rudman, Jared Bambry, Mike Wilson.