Matt Saunders promises good ball

Versatile Stags player Matt Saunders is keeping things simple ahead of his debut in the No12 jersey against Manawatu in Palmerston North tomorrow.

Saunders will play at second five-eighth for the first time in the national provincial championship season opener, although he is no stranger to the midfield having spent much of his career at centre before moving to the wing during his time with Otago and the Highlanders.

Saunders said he would go into the game with a basic job description – create good ball for the likes of Robbie Robinson, Kendrick Lynn and Glen Horton.

"We've got a lot of good runners. All I need to do is do the hard work, take the ball up hard and make my tackles, try and free up the ball for guys like Kenny, Horty and Robbie. They are all finishers."

Saunders injured a knee playing for Pirates-Old Boys in the final round-robin game of the club season.

He returns five weeks later, missing only the two preseason Ranfurly Shield defences against North Otago and Wanganui.

In his absence Seminar Manu and James Wilson had been trialled, but it was always Stags co-coach Simon Culhane's intention to give Saunders a chance to replace last year's backline leader Jason Kawau, who now plays in Japan.

"It's the way I had to go in the end," Saunders said of his shift in from the wing.

"As a wing I was getting to the stage where I'm not getting any younger, and I'm not getting any quicker, so I had to make a change. "The opportunity came up when Jase left, but there's three of us fighting for it. They've shown me some faith so far, but I've got to step up," he said.

Adapting to his new role should not be too much of a stretch given the way rugby was played, Saunders said.

"It's much of a muchness the midfield. Even on the wing last year, I hardly spent much time on the wing because of the sort of player I was – I wasn't going to run around people so I had to come in and be effective in other ways," he said.

"You don't notice much of a change, except for at a scrum and a lineout you stand in a different place on defence."

One frustration has been the lack of time Saunders and centre Lynn have had together.

Yesterday's training run was their first together.

"That's been one of the niggly things. With both of us having injuries we still haven't run in a backline together yet. That's just one of those things. The thing that helps is that we've all played together, this backline has played together for two or three years. It's just where you start the set pieces and from there everyone's in any position."

Saunders said last year's 25-23 loss to Manawatu in Invercargill had been discussed this week.

"They are a bloody dangerous team. If you drop the ball or, as we saw last year, they get a charge down or two, they score tries. You really have to be disciplined. Last year's loss has been mentioned and it will add some motivation."

Saunders, who is in the rare position of having played for North Otago, Otago, Southland and the Highlanders, said next week's Shield defence against Otago was in the back of the players' minds.

"The thing is we are under pressure next week anyway.

"If we lose [against Manawatu] then we are under even more pressure."

- © Fairfax NZ News