Former Highlanders stars Waisake Naholo and Hale T-Pole are being tipped to bolster a Glenorchy Invitational XV tackling a Wakatipu-Arrowtown combination in a festival-type head-of-the-lake rugby game tomorrow.
Glenorchy’s Lakeside Rugby Club also played a Wakatipu-Vincent team two years ago in its first hit-out in seven years.
The visitors won the game, though no one really kept the score.
Brian Greer, who’s managing the Glenorchy side, says they didn’t play last year due to Covid, but he thinks the clash should ideally occur every two years, anyway.
Aside from a few Glenorchy players, his side will field seven or eight players from both Dunedin’s Harbour club and Gore’s Pioneer club — Greer, Harbour’s club captain, and his brother-in-law, Tim Crowley, who’s Pioneer’s club captain, together own a crib in Glenorchy.
‘‘We’re just trying to make sure Glenorchy gets some rugby once in a while,’’ Greer says.
‘‘Last time we had it it was an absolutely wonderful day, and a big night afterwards at the pub — we’re hoping for the same again.’’
He’s pretty confident the two ex-Highlanders will suit up — ‘‘they won’t be taking it too seriously, but it just adds a bit more colour to the whole event’’.
Naholo, 31, is an ex-All Black who played 62 games for the Highlanders while T-Pole, 43, played internationals for Tonga and the Pacific Islanders.
Saturday’s game kicks off 2pm at the Glenorchy Rec Ground.
