Sivivatu confident of making Waikato debut

Sitiveni Sivivatu is confident he will make his Waikato debut and play his first Ranfurly Shield match on Sunday.

The winger believes his three-match test experience with the Pacific Islanders will help in terms of big-match preparation for the game against Bay of Plenty at Mt Maunganui's Blue Chip Stadium.

Sivivatu, who has had an All Blacks trial even though he is not eligible for New Zealand until December, transferred to Waikato from Counties-Manukau at the end of last year.

But his Waikato debut has been delayed by a hamstring tear in his right leg.

He has been running reasonably freely at training, but on Wednesday said he would leave the injury to heal a couple more days before stretching out.

"It will be something special to play my first Ranfurly Shield game and my first game for Waikato," Sivivatu said.

"I've learned heaps of stuff from playing [for the Pacific Islanders] against those three nations [Australia, New Zealand and South Africa] and who knows, it might make me a better player in the future."

He has even more praise for the Chiefs, an environment he thrived in.

"There was a good team management, a good set-up - everything was just great and the coaches were really good too. No wonder we did really well."

A good gameplan had provided him with plenty of ball while he had a licence to roam and look for work with the Islanders, a role he also enjoyed.

"I still got the ball and scored a few tries. You just have to take the opportunities when they come your way."

All Blacks loose forward Jono Gibbes trained with Waikato on Wednesday.

But Waikato manager Glenn Ross said there would be no surprise selections of All Blacks for Sunday's Shield challenge.

Gibbes will resume the Waikato captaincy once he returns to the field for the province.

- NZPA

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