Ben May back for Waikato

Ben May's return to rugby for Waikato will be further fast-tracked tonight when the big prop finds himself in the starting XV against North Harbour at Albany.

May was yesterday moved from the reserves to the starting loose-head prop position after in-form 21-year-old Toby Smith was ruled out due to a hamstring injury suffered at training on Thursday.

May's comeback from virtually 12 months on the sidelines with knee and back injuries could not have been timed better as Smith has been an integral part of a dominant Waikato scrum and strong tight forward effort in the Waikato team's three wins to date in this year's ITM Cup.

"He got through 80 minutes last week with the development side so we're pretty happy with Ben coming back in," Waikato head coach Chris Gibbes said.

Asked if it had also been tempting to start All Black Richard Kahui at centre, rather than bringing him off the bench, Gibbes said that would not have been fair on Kahui.

"We discussed it briefly but we felt what was more important from a team point of view is that those backs are really starting to gel together now and Richie's been out for a while, so I don't think it's fair to chuck him back into the team straight off the bat like that."

Gibbes said they would be happy to get "a good 20 to 30 minutes out of him" off the bench.

North Harbour are sitting 11th on the table but only four points behind seventh-placed Waikato after two wins and three losses.

"I think we need to really pay special attention this week," said Gibbes. "They are a team that are searching for some form but have shown that they can play."

Gibbes rated the Harbour forward pack as "pretty solid" and said the outside backs were dangerous, with fullback Jack McPhee in good form, while Luke McAlister was always a threat at second-five. "They have plenty of steppers and plenty of offloaders, so we're definitely going to be tested," he said.

TEAMS

North Harbour: Jack McPhee, Alipate Fatafehi, Jack Tarrant, Luke McAlister, Nafi Tuitavake, Michael Harris, Chris Smylie, Richard Mayhew, Malakai Ravulo, Matt Luamanu, Anthony Boric, James King, Ben Afeaki, James Parsons, Michael Reid. Reserves: Manu Leiataua, James Afoa, Filo Paulo, Scott Uren, Nalu Tuigamala, Ben Botica, Brendon Watt.

Waikato: Sosene Anesi, Tim Mikkelson, Save Tokula, Christian Lealiifano, Dwayne Sweeney, Trent Renata, Brendon Leonard, Steven Setephano, Jack Lam, Liam Messam, Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Toby Lynn, Nathan White (c), Aled de Malmanche, Ben May. Reserves: Vern Kamo, Hikairo Forbes, Romana Graham, Matt Vant Leven, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Richard Kahui, Sam Christie.

Referee: Shane McDermott.

Kickoff: 7.35 tonight, North Harbour Stadium.

- © Fairfax NZ News