All Blacks lock James Ryan will get his first taste of provincial rugby this season after being included in Otago's run-on line-up to play Wellington in a top six match in Dunedin tomorrow.
Otago's pack will also be boosted by the return of All Blacks prop Carl Hayman, who has been resting since the Tri-Nations campaign ended.
Ryan, who has played seven tests, has been out of action for almost six months, recovering from surgery to repair his left shoulder.
He made a tentative return to the game last weekend, playing for Otago B.
Ryan emerged from the game unscathed and coach Steve Martin was quick to recall him.
Martin said it was always the plan that Ryan would come into contention for the Wellington match if he got through the B game successfully.
Otago, after a 48-7 pounding by Auckland last weekend, face a Wellington side needing a five-point win to secure a home quarter-final.
But Martin says he sees no reason to hit the panic button just yet, despite his team having lost their last three matches.
"I personally don't think that we need to panic at all," he said.
"We have qualified for the quarter-finals and we have a couple of weeks now to address some of the problems that have crept through."
Having started the Air New Zealand Cup in convincing fashion, winning their first five matches, last year's runners-up have been battered in the last month but Martin continues to show faith in his charges.
"We have got to show faith in the players that we have got and just keeping working hard," he said.
"I think in terms of the growth of the team we were pretty competitive at the scrum and at the lineout. In fact, in that first half we disrupted quite a bit of the Auckland ball and we took some off their lineout."
- NZPA
Ryan return timely boost for Otago
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