There will be fireworks at the Southland-Taranaki game in Invercargill tonight.
But that display will come after the match.
The Invercargill Licensing Trust will celebrate its 80th birthday with some pyrotechnics following the game.
However, Stags fans will be hoping the real highlights happen on the field and not in the skies over Rugby Park Stadium.
The Stags have named a mostly settled squad for their match against the defending champions.
There is no Blair Ryall. The underrated blindside injured his leg at training before last week’s Ranfurly Shield challenge and will be out of action for another couple of weeks.
In his absence, hard-running No 8 Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa will join the loose forward trio again.
The captain Sean Withy has been listed at No 6 and Dylan Nel on the openside. But those two switch sides of the scrum depending on the game plan.
Experienced prop Morgan Mitchell has been rotated to the bench and will be asked to make an impact in the second half. Hamdahn Tuipulotu will start at tighthead and he has shown good form.
There is a change at halfback where Lachie Albert replaces the injured Connor Collins who fractured a bone in his hand against Hawke’s Bay and will probably miss the rest of the season.
And the midfield has been shuffled around to fit in Jake Strachan. He will start at fullback.
English winger Charlie Powell will slot in at centre and Rory van Vugt shifts from fullback to the left wing, while Faletoi Peni drops to the bench.
Prop Sean Paranihi has been named on the bench and will be making his debut for Southland.
Taranaki has named a strong side but one player in particularly worries Southland co-coach Matt Saunders said .
"We got terrorised by a Highlander last week in Folau Fakatava and this week we’ve got Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens," he said.
"It is just a very dangerous back three and they are the champs, so.
"We didn’t quite execute our plan last week, so we will need to be a lot better ... to win."
NPC
Invercargill, 7.05pm
Southland: Jake Strachan, Viliami Fine, Charlie Powell, Isaac Te Tamaki, Rory van Vugt, Byron Smith, Lachie Albert, Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa, Dylan Nel, Sean Withy (captain), Josh Bekhuis, Mitch Dunshea, Hamdahn Tuipulotu, Jack Taylor, Jack Sexton. Reserves: Jacob Payne, Sean Paranihi, Morgan Mitchell, Shneil Singh, Daniel Maiava, Jay Renton, Jason Robertson, Faletoi Peni.
Taranaki: Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Vereniki Tikoisolomone, Meihana Grindlay, Daniel Rona, Kini Naholo, Josh Jacomb, Adam Lennox. Kaylum Boshier (captain), Michael Loft, Scott Jury, Tom Franklin, Fiti Sa, Michael Bent, Ricky Riccitelli, Jared Proffit. Reserves: Bradley Slater, Perry Lawrence, Mitch O’Neill, Jackson Morgan, Arese Poliko, Leone Nawai, Jayson Potroz, Josh Setu.
