KEY POINTS:
All Blacks loose forward Sione Lauaki has been named on the Waikato reserve bench for their opening Air NZ Cup rugby match against Northland at Whangarei tomorrow night.
Waikato coach Tony Hanks named the burly No 8 after he wasn't included in the New Zealand 22 for Saturday's Bledisloe Cup test against Australia in Auckland.
"It was felt it was a good chance to bring him into the Waikato environment, with the view to giving him some game time off the bench," Hanks said.
He shifted loose forward Jordan Smiler to the reserves and bracketed him with fullback James Kamana.
Weather conditions would dictate whether he named an extra forward on the bench.
Waikato
Dwayne Sweeney, Sosene Anesi, Jackson Willison, Roimata Hansell-Pune, Tim Mikkelson, Callum Bruce, Malcom Barnes, Liam Messam (captain), Tom Harding, Faifili Levave, Kevin O'Neill, Toby Lynn, Aled de Malmanche, Oli Avei, Hikairo Forbes.
Reserves: Kalem Chan Boon, Josh Hohneck, Kent Fife, Sione Lauaki, David Bason, Trent Renata, James Kamana/Jordan Smiler
- NZPA
