The Eels fielded an all-star cast at the weekend and dispatched Alhambra-Union 69-7 in a division 1 Dunedin club game at Peter Johnstone Park.
More importantly, Highlanders duo Cameron Millar and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens got some rugby under their belts and have subsequently been included in the Highlanders’ starting XV for the game against the Fijian Drua in Dunedin tomorrow night.
Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens had been sidelined for the best part of six months with a serious neck injury.
He made an emotional return and scored a try in his comeback game.
Millar suffered a nasty head knock while playing for the Highlanders against Moana Pasifika on February 28.
He played in Taieri’s 23-22 win over Kaikorai in the opening round and took another step forward with a tidy performance against AU.
They will be missing tomorrow when Taieri take a step up in class and play University at Logan Park.
Coach Phil Young is satisfied with the start his team has made to the campaign, but he was wary of University.
"They’ll be a different beast from our first two games," he said.
"They’ll bring more intensity. They like to play on top of you, so their skillset’s pretty good, and they’ve got some pretty good finishers on the outside, so we’ll have to be on top of our game."
It is a little tricky to get a measure of where University might sit.
They were pumped 50-27 by Southern in the opening round, but bounced back to clobber Zingari-Richmond 53-26 at Montecillo.
"I think it’s hard to get a gauge on most teams because a lot of teams didn’t play a lot of preseason, and I think everybody’s just getting their knitting together," Young said.
"I think this weekend might tell where everybody’s at."
Young did not want to single out any individuals from the weekend, but Taieri No 8 Kasimila Vaihu had a strong game, collecting four tries.
Midfielder Matt Whaanga was threatening when he carried the ball, while lock Eric Peita also had a solid shift.
The Eels have a couple of injury concerns. Influential loose forward Sam Fischli was injured during the warm-up last weekend and has been ruled out, while workhorse hooker Brady Robertson has been sidelined following an accident with a skillsaw at work.
Robertson has lost part of one finger and damaged another.
His recovery is going well, and Young is hopefully he will return in a couple of weeks or so.
In the other games, Harbour host Zingari-Richmond at Watson Park, AU are at home to Green Island and Kaikorai play Dunedin at Bishopscourt.
