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Tony Lamborn returned to the Hawke’s Bay lineup on Wednesday, putting in a solid performance but coming out on the lost edge in a 25-24 loss to Auckland at McLean Park in Napier. He could be seeing double this week as Hawke’s Bay travel south to Christchurch on Sunday to play Canterbury. US-eligible three-quarter Pasqualle Dunn was named in the reserves for Auckland but did not feature.
San Francisco Rush star Bill Fukofuka had a strong outing for Southland against Taranaki on Thursday, but could not pull the Stags out of the fire as they suffered a decisive 30-14 defeat to the Bulls. Friday will see Canadian lock Josh Larsen on Northland reserves duty against Bay of Plenty and USA tighthead prop Chris Baumann will start in the Wellington front row to face Counties Manukau. Toni Pulu has yet to make an appearance for the Steelers this season and will miss out again in Pukekohe.
Jake Ilnicki will feature off the bench for Manawatu against North Harbour on Saturday. PRO Rugby standout Spike Davis has not been included in the Tasman Makos team this week, and curiously is also absent from the Tasman Griffins lineup in their high-stakes match against Canterbury Maori.
Round 3 of Australia’s National Rugby Championship takes place this weekend. James Hilterbrand continues as reserve hooker for Sydney Rays against Queensland Country, and Canadian-eligible prop Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin jumps back into the UC Vikings starting lineup on Sunday against Brisbane City.
