NZ Heartland XV team named for 2nd match vs Vanua Fiji (9th Nov 2019)

The New Zealand Heartland XV line up for their last match of the year today against the Vanua XV in Fiji.

After a tense 12-7 win over their rivals earlier in the week, Coach Mark Rutene has made six changes to the starting line up for today’s match.

Captain Brett Ranga again pulls on the number eight jersey and is flanked by Nathan Kendrick and Hone Haerewa, the latter who scored the opening try in Wednesday’s match.

Sione Holani is promoted from the bench to form an experienced midfield pairing with Peni Nabainivalu.

Robbie Smith and Tim Priest combine at halfback and first five-eighths after playing off the bench on Wednesday.

Today’s match is the last on the New Zealand Heartland XV schedule for 2019, which saw a historic match against Samoa at Eden Park in the Pasifika Challenge II in July.

Last week the team played their annual fixture against NZ Marist, going down 19-29 against an experience Marist team.

No.	POSITION	Player
1	Loosehead Prop	Ralph Darling North Otago
2	Hooker	Anthony Ellis Buller
3	Tighthead Prop	Tyler Kearns West Coast
4	Left Lock	Campbell Hart (VC) Wanganui
5	Right Lock	Sam Liebezeit West Coast
6	Blindside Flanker	Hone Haerewa East Coast
7	Openside Flanker	Nathan Kendrick Horowhenua-Kapiti
8	Number Eight	Brett Ranga ( C ) Thames Valley
9	Halfback	Robbie Smith North Otago
10	First Five Eight	Tim Priest Wairarapa Bush
11	Left Wing	Patrick Pati North Otago
12	Second Five	Sione Holani West Coast
13	Centre	Peni Nabainivalu Wanganui
14	Right Wing	Willie Paia’aua (VC) Horowhenua-Kapiti
15	Fullback	Himiona Henare Horowhenua-Kapiti
REPLACEMENTS
16	Hooker	Troy Tauwhare West Coast
17	Prop	Meli Kolinisau North Otago
18	Prop	Carl Carmichael King Country
19	Loose Forward	Chulainn Mabbett-Sowerby King Country
20	Loose Forward	Seta Koroitamana Mid Canterbury
21	Halfback	Willie Wright South Canterbury
22	Mid Field Back	Jaxon Tagavaitau Horowhenua-Kapiti
23	Outside Back	Alex Thrupp King Country

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