The Eucalyptus Pine Pathogen Interactions (EPPI) team is conducting a large-scale field experiment, which is part of an ongoing study running with greenhouse trials since 2020. The study aims to identify DNA markers associated with resistance against the fungal canker pathogen, Chrysoporthe austroafricana and to understand the underlying resistance mechanisms. The current field experiment consists of 6060 ramets of 202 Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla backcross to E. grandis clones, produced and planted at the Kwambonambi site in KwaZulu-Natal by SAPPI-South Africa. From 12-16 February, 4040 of these trees were inoculated with C. austroafricana. This was followed by stem sampling from 1212 inoculated trees for transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses from 19-22 February. Phenotyping will be done on the remaining 2828 inoculated trees in May-July, 2023. EPPI team members Prof. Sanushka Naidoo, Dr Erik Visser, Demissew Teshome, Shae Swanepoel, Sean Schultze, Bianca Hattingh, Tebogo Molemela, Tshoganyetso Motete, Yuvaan Bhimsan, Tanya Pretorius, Luke Kim, Ryan Bosch, Bertus van Rooy, and Anicka Nel as well as SAPPI staff Prof. Jolanda Roux and Nicky Jones joined the field trips.