Northland B to play Manu Samoa A tonight

Northland B rugby coach Peter Nock

The Northland B rugby team will take on the Manu Samoa A team in a game at Toll Stadium, Whangarei, tonight.

The match kicks off at 6pm, with a 26-man Northland B squad taking on a Manu Samoa A team coached by Wellington rugby great Alama Ieremia.

Northland B coach Peter Nock said the Samoa team wanted to play the Northland Taniwha Mitre 10 Cup team, but the side had already sorted out its pre-season games.

''I know the Samoa team manager (former Auckland B winger and Auckland Sevens coach) Ramsey Tomokino well so he rang me up and asked if my boys would be keen to play his on a Wednesday night and we're keen,'' Nock said.

''The Samoa A side is made up of members of their national squad, emerging players and Under 20s players and they played Counties last Saturday before taking on Auckland on Saturday. The Samoa national side have got three internationals coming up so wanted to see how these guys went ahead of that.''

He said the match tonight would be a good hit out for his team.

''It will be a decent test for our boys. It's a game of rugby against a team at the next level and it's a good chance for the boys to play at that level. I'm hoping we get a lot of learning from it.''

Tickets for the game are $5 at the gate.