Peter Playford

CA Brumbies winger Peter Playford will line up on the wing for his side’s first Investec Super 14 match of the year against the Crusaders on Friday night. Playford returns to New Zealand’s South Island having played for the Tasman Makos (based in Nelson) during the Air New Zealand Cup in 2006. Brumby Jack caught up with Playford ahead of Friday’s season opener.

Brumby Jack: How are you feeling ahead of your first Investec Super 14 game for 2008?
Peter Playford: Yeah, I’m feeling good, probably a lot better than this time last year. I’ve had a really good pre-season, I’ve got a good running block under my belt and I feel great for having had two hit-outs in the trials.

BJ: You’ve got the Crusaders first up. Is this a positive thing?
PP: I think so. They’ve started slowly the last few years but you only have to look at how successful they’ve been to know they’re never a team you take lightly. But it’s good to have them early and see where you’re at and test out our combinations against a quality opposition. But we’ve had a great pre-season, everyone’s trained really well and we’re just keen to get out there.

BJ: You lost both trials against the Waratahs and Hurricanes. How much do you take out of these results?
PP: In both matches we performed well in the first half. The second half is always difficult in trials as there are always a lot of substitutions made at half time and combinations are often disrupted. But we got a lot out of them and it’s given us a number of things to build on. For us the results were never the main focus, it was more about coming through injury free and getting some quality game time under our belts.

BJ: This weekend the CA Brumbies will roll out a new halves combination in Joshua Holmes and Christian Lealiifano. How do you think they’ll go?
PP: We’re very confident in Christian and Holmesy. They’re probably the youngest halves combination in the competition but they’re very capable of playing at this level and two guys who bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm to the squad. They both benefited from being part of two of the best halves combinations in the ARC [Australian Rugby Championship] and they’ve played a lot together in junior representative rugby. Holmesy has already played Super 14 and has shown what a tremendous asset he is to a side. I’ve been rooming with Christian this week and he’s very excited and I’m sure he’s capable of a big performance on Friday and he’s a player with a big future.

BJ: You’ll line up against Kade Poki on Friday, who is a player that also hails from the Tasman Makos. What do you know about Poki?
PP: He is a Tasman boy but he wasn’t at the Makos when I was there. I’ve heard a lot about him though and it’s great to see local juniors from the Tasman area coming through the Air New Zealand Cup and through to Super 14. I’ve seen a bit of him during the trials and he’s a player with a lot of game and you know when someone is being compared to Rico Gear, like he has, that he’s a player with a lot of potential. I know there’s a lot of people in the Tasman area who’re keen to see how we go against each other on Friday.

BJ: You spent a few days in Nelson on your way down to Christchurch. Did you have an opportunity to catch up with your Makos teammates?
PP: I got a chance to catch up with a few of the guys I used to play with at my club team, Marist. I caught up with a few of the coaches and saw a few of the guys in passing at a training session but didn’t get to catch up properly. I really enjoyed living in Nelson though, it’s a great little spot and a lot of the Brumbies boys said how much they enjoyed being down there.