The defending premiers will get Western Zone star Jordan Moran and hard-hitting opener Michael Kempston back for day two and will need them to perform against a Macquarie bowling attack which will get Declan Hoare back from rep duty.

Bower has been one of the in-form players of the competition and chipped in with three wickets on day one, and said Rugby's run chase would need one of the top three batsmen to make a big score.

"For Macquarie, Andrew Page batted really well and the other guys just chipped in around him and stuck with him," Bower said.

“We’re going to need someone to play a similar sort of role.

“Even though we’re chasing 352 we get Jordan and ‘Kemmo’ back and I think that was what Nathan (Munro) was thinking when he won the toss and bowled last week.

“There was nothing in the deck for our quicks but hats off to them. They batted well and now the boys will have to do the same thing.”

Rugby has one of the deepest batting lineups in the Whitney Cup competition and Bower said despite the big chase he expects the text messages late on Saturday to be informing him of a win.

“There’s nobody in our side that can’t hold the stick and we really bat right down to 11,” he said.

“Even though 352 sounds like a big score, it’s not even five runs an over so the boys can be patient and don’t have to hit the cover off the ball right from the start.

“We have enough experienced guys in the side to realise that but I think what a big chase like this will do is give our middle and lower order guys a chance to bat because myself, Jordan and Nathan have scored a lot of runs this season and often those guys down the order haven’t had much time at the crease.”