Rugby: Wellington not letting on about Ieremia

Wellington rugby coach Dave Rennie has refused to tip his hand on whether Alama Ieremia will start at centre in tomorrow's NPC first-division rugby final.

Ieremia got through training on Wednesday night seemingly without any ill-effects from the hamstring strain that saw him miss last week's semifinal against Auckland.

It was presumed he would start at centre, with Tana Umaga moving back to the right wing and Brad Fleming back to the bench.

But it may not be that straightforward, as Umaga and Ieremia were bracketed at centre when the team members were named yesterday.

Umaga was also bracketed on the wing with Fleming, while Ieremia and Fleming were paired in the reserves.

When asked if a fit Ieremia would start, Rennie declined to comment.

He did admit that some of the motivation for the bracketing was to keep Canterbury guessing, but there also seems to be some genuine indecision as to who should start.

Sentimentality suggests Ieremia will run out in the No 13 jersey in what will be his final game in New Zealand before he starts a new career in Japan.

But the backs played well against Auckland, and there is a school of thought that the same backline should be retained tomorrow night.

"We don't really want Canterbury to know what we are doing because they will do things differently depending on who is playing," Rennie said.

Canterbury have recalled All Black prop Greg Feek and he will pack down at loosehead against South African strongman Morne van der Merwe.

Feek's inclusion will give Canterbury an all-international front row. He has got the nod over the well-performed David Hewett in a tactical switch which may give the red-and-blacks an element of surprise.

He joins All Blacks Mark Hammett and Greg Somerville in the front row in what will be Feek's first start of the NPC campaign after recovering from an ankle operation in July.

His last four appearances have been as a second-half substitute since he made his comeback in the Ranfurly Shield win over Waikato.

Canterbury coach Robbie Deans said both Hewett and Feek were very good players, but the change could make it slightly more challenging for Wellington because they did not have a great deal of history [on Feek] they could refer to.

"They're both going very well. Feeky is well over his injury, it's behind him now and he's starting to come into some form, and Hewey's been firing the whole way through."

Wellington's scrum has not been great throughout the season but has, statistically at least, been more settled than Canterbury's.

In 137 scrums on Wellington's put-in, 39 have had to be reset - about 28 per cent. On the opposition's ball, 30 of the 112 scrums (27 per cent) have been reset.

Canterbury have had to reset nearly half of their 161 scrums (71, or 44 per cent) and have forced 70 of their opponents' 133 scrums to be reset - about 53 per cent.

Feek is expected to play a significant role at Jade Stadium with his ability to drive up against his opponent or to turn him in or out of the scrum.

How van der Merwe copes with Feek will be interesting, but Wellington also applied some pressure of their own on referee Paul Honiss yesterday.

Rennie said the Wellington pack was aware of how Feek played and what his strategies were, but had not made an issue of him during the week because they were unsure whether Feek or Dave Hewett would start.

He said: "I would anticipate the scrums will be sorted out pretty quickly."



Wellington: Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga or Brad Fleming, Alama Ieremia or Umaga, Jonah Lomu, Jason O'Halloran, David Holwell, Jason Spice, Jerry Collins, Kupu Vanisi, Dion Waller, Inoke Afeaki, Rodney So'oialo, Morne van der Merwe, Norm Hewitt (captain), Kevin Yates.

Reserves: Fleming or Ieremia, Paul Steinmetz, Riki Flutey, Semo Sititi, Milton Ngauamo, Shane Carter, Mike Edwards.

Canterbury: Ben Blair, Marika Vunibaka, Mark Mayerhofler, Daryl Gibson (capt), Caleb Ralph, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Sam Broomhall, Scott Robertson, Reuben Thorne, Norm Maxwell, Todd Blackadder, Greg Somerville, Mark Hammett, Greg Feek.

Reserves: Afato So'oala, Nathan Mauger, Ben Hurst, Dallas Seymour, Chris Jack, David Hewett, Matt Sexton.

- NZPA