Southern's mighty pack has been stripped of some muscle with prop Craig Millar, hooker Cameron Keech and line-out forward Josh Clark having moved on. Despite a few personnel struggles, Southern is set on going back to back but is realistic about the challenge ahead. It played some wonderful rugby to beat Dunedin in the semifinal and had enough ball in the final to overcome Southern. Harbour has most of the pack back but will be without burly loose forward Ben Whale. Alhambra will lean heavily on key players Ben Webby, Jacob Coughlan and Ben Tuimanufili to provide the muscle up front, while halfback Legin Felix-Hotham and first five-eighth Zach Porter will provide the direction.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 20, 2018 16:52 UTC