Skipton RU club's new Kiwi signing Chuck Kepa faces a trial by ordeal at Sandylands tomorrow when the Reds entertain unbeaten Yorkshire Division Two leaders Beverley.

The 25-year-old from the Frazer-Tech club in Hamilton is pitched in at the deep end when he lines up in the back row with a Skipton team lacking a string of players because of injury, work and holiday commitments.

Kepa's arrival in Skipton on Sunday was a surprise for the Skipton hierarchy after the flanker had originally had his travel plans held up because of a visa hiccup. That was rectified a few weeks earlier than was anticipated and he goes straight into action tomorrow in what is sure to be a tough test for the Reds.

While he has some limited representative experience as a teenager, his career mostly centres on club rugby in Hamilton, with Fraser-Tech one of the leading clubs in New Zealand's fifth largest city.

Kepa stands 6ft 1in and weighs 16 stone and has a pair of hands which should equip him very nicely for the grappling duties of the back-row.

"I have a two-year visa now and intend to stay at Skipton at least until the end of the season," he says. "Obviously I'd like to see a few things while I'm in Europe and the price of travel is so cheap, but I want to do well with Skipton.

"The town is a bit bigger than I imagined, but I met the players and officials on Tuesday night at my first training session and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Grant Litt tells me that he's been having a great time and really enjoying his stay and I'm looking forward to being here for a while.

"Apart from the rugby, I'd like to get across to mainland Europe to do some snow boarding and I also have a Premiership soccer match on my list of things to do."

The newcomer's first test, however, comes later today when he celebrates his 25th birthday. Visiting overseas sportsmen have a habit of getting to know the staff at Skipton's premier nightspots like close family members, but with a hard game against Beverley beckoning tomorrow, a measure of self discipline may be needed, at least on the eve of his debut.

Another piece of good news on the team front is the return of George Smithson at full-back, his resumption allowing Michael Richards to move to fly-half for Sean Kennedy, who is working.

Apart from Kepa's debut, the pack shows a number of enforced changes. Pete Jenkinson (work), Adam Winthrop (ribs), Alan Newhouse (arm), Ian Scrivin (holiday), Neil King (broken jaw) and Robbie King (holidays) are all ruled out, so another couple of new faces appear on the team-sheet.

Nathan Tissen is a prop who has arrived in the parish from Cumbria and, having previously done duty with Aspatria first team, he should be a useful addition to the squad, while Paul Boynton, who has been out of action for a while, gets his first outing of the season at lock.

Another one-time regular returning to first-team duty tomorrow is second rower Andy Phillip, who joins Kieran Coe and Dave Mitton on the bench.

Skipton: G Smithson; M Beech, B Broxsom, A Farquhar, M Cox; M Richards, G Litt; N Tissen, G Hindle, A Webb, G Newlove, P Boynton, M Davison, J Morgan, C Kepa. Replacements: A Phillip, K Coe, D Mitton.

oSkipton have been drawn at home to Ponteland in the next round of the Powergen Vase.

The North East side play in Division Three of the Durham & Northumberland League and are unbeaten so far, having won five of their six matches, scoring 219 points and conceding 31.