KEY POINTS:
New Zealand Maori coach Donny Stevenson admits he has picked a tough Pacific Nations Cup rugby game to make wholesale changes.
A Maori team fielding 10 starting changes and a positional switch for Liam Messam will face a dangerous Fiji at Churchill Park, Lautoka on Saturday.
Both teams were first-round winners last weekend but the Maori looked patchy in their 20-9 defeat of Tonga at Albany while Fiji romped away from Samoa to win 34-15 at Lautoka, having led 31-0 at one stage.
Stevenson agreed this weekend's fixture could be the most challenging of the campaign but stuck firm to his selection policy.
"I made a commitment to the guys that I wanted every player to have an opportunity to impress in the first few games," Stevenson said.
"But we know this game is a major challenge. We've had some pretty tough games against Fiji. They have a lot of enthusiasm and energy from their home supporters."
There are five changes to both the forward pack and the backline.
Among the five players retained from the Tonga win are co-captains Messam, who is moved from blindside flanker to No 8, and second five-eighth Tamati Ellison.
"They're pretty important people to our team with the leadership they bring," Stevenson said.
"We're conscious with Liam that he had a heavy workload in the Super 14. At some stage we'll look to manage his workload and probably Tamati's too."
The three other returnees are winger Hosea Gear and locks Jason Eaton and Isaac Ross.
Stevenson's other locking option is Ross Filipo, who was named to start against Tonga but pulled out late with a hamstring strain.
Another injury cloud surrounds the elbow of fullback Shannon Paku, who is bracketed on the reserve bench with Zar Lawrence.
Earlier this week Bronson Murray joined the squad to replace Clint Newland, who was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
Murray will make his New Zealand Maori debut if he gets on the field while first five-eighth Stephen Brett and prop Jacob Ellison - the brother of Tamati - are starting so are guaranteed their first Maori cap.
Set piece work was the focus of training in drizzle today, with Stevenson saying the pack let themselves down there against Tonga.
Also, the backline struggled to deal with the drifting Tongan defence.
"We played with a lot of width and didn't ask too much of the defence so we'll probably be a little more direct."
Fiji effectively used giant Stormers winger Sireli Naqelevuki at centre against Samoa and showed some encouraging signs up front.
"They've got a big pack, a lot of those boys have experience playing in New Zealand. So they'll know what to expect from us," Stevenson said.
"They're always going to be dangerous on the counter-attack so that's going to be a key area for us."
NZ Maori
Dwayne Sweeney, Glen Horton, Tim Bateman, Tamati Ellison (co-captain), Hosea Gear, Stephen Brett, Chris Smylie, Liam Messam (co-captain), Daniel Braid, Hoani MacDonald, Jason Eaton, Isaac Ross, Ben May, Aled de Malmanche, Jacob Ellison.
Reserves: Hikawera Elliot, Bronson Murray, Tanerau Latimer, Thomas Waldrom, Piri Weepu, Callum Bruce, Shannon Paku/Zar Lawrence.
- NZPA
