An undefeated Auckland side will be looking to keep their 11-game winning streak alive against Hawke's Bay in the ANZ Cup semi-final.
At Eden Park, Saturday October 13, live on SSX from 7.30am
An undefeated Auckland side will be looking to keep their eleven-game winning streak alive against a high-flying Hawke's Bay outfit in the second Air New Zealand Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Cinderella story, golden run, fairytale season - call it what you like but the Magpies' eight win and three loss record this year has outweighed all expectations and Auckland know they are up for a battle at Eden Park.
Many thought Hawke's Bay's season would come to an end at McLean Park in last Sunday's quarter-final against Waikato.
However, two tries in the last 10 minutes to replacement Israel Dagg and centre Sam Giddens brought Peter Russell's side back from the dead to win 38-35.
The Magpies' win last weekend served to remind a lot of people who may have temporarily forgotten why New Zealanders follow rugby so avidly, and showed once again how they refused to knuckle under when all may have seemed lost.
If championships were won on character and attitude, Hawke's Bay would bolt into the 2007 final.
Auckland enjoyed a relatively easy march through to the semis with a 30-10 defeat of Taranaki last Saturday, although the visitors led early before succumbing to the brute power of their unbeaten opponents.
Avenging
Auckland coach Pat Lam has talked of avenging last year's 15-30 semi-final loss to Wellington and named the same forward pack that smashed their Magpies adversaries in a 38-11 victory back in Round Six.
Lam has kept intact the backline that began the quarter-final defeat of Taranaki last weekend, but brought back Brad Mika and Saimone Taumoepeau to the pack.
Mika returns at number eight, with Jerome Kaino moving to blindside flanker and Angus Macdonald dropping to the bench.
Lam could hardly be accused of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with the changes he's made this week, after simply moving the same 22 players around into slightly different combinations.
His biggest strength may well be the five-All Black loose forward unit he can call upon.
Hawke's Bay have one player unavailable in the form of winger Jason Kupa, who has been sidelined with a knee injury. Ben Batger shifts to the wing, Israel Dagg takes over at full-back and Justin Wilson moves onto the bench.
Auckland's three-quarters are dangerous on attack and defence and Hawke's Bay will find breaking the blue and white wall a lot harder than breaching the somewhat flimsy Waikato defence.
Full-back Brent Ward reached 100 points for the season last week and fly-half Isa Nacewa is poised to do so in this match, which would give Auckland a rare case of two centurions in the same side.
Underdogs
But tournament underdogs Hawke's Bay are determined not to let the title favourites run away with proceedings and will ensure there are two teams playing come kick-off.
Russell had a simple answer on how the result on Saturday could be reversed.
"Not standing back and watching a team like Auckland play rugby, to be honest," Russell told NZPA.
"There should be two teams out there contesting."
Russell said Hawke's Bay were made to pay in late August when they were down six tries to none before scoring a late consolation touchdown.
"Little things like that count, especially against a team like Auckland," he said.
While a Hawke's Bay win at Eden Park would amount to a huge upset, Russell's no-star squad do have momentum on their side.
Their elimination of defending champions Waikato last weekend was their fourth victory on the trot.
"Certainly, the highs are there, but we know we've got a huge job ahead of us," said Russell.
"The weather is not looking too flash, so that's a pretty good leveller.
"The fact that we are huge outsiders will be in our favour as well."
Areas Hawke's Bay had focused on this week were better ball retention and tightening up their defence. Against Waikato, Russell felt his players turned over too much possession because of lack of numbers at the breakdown.
"They'll probably use their big men to carry the ball and try to starve us of possession, like they did last time," said the Magpies coach.
"We've worked this week on trying to nullify what they will try to do. It's like a game of chess, isn't it?"
Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 David Smith, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Sam Tuitupou (c), 11 Benson Stanley, 10 Isa Nacewa, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Brad Mika, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Jay Williams, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements: 16 Chris Heard, 17 Nick White, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Angus Macdonald, 20 Grayson Hart, 21 Lachie Munro, 22 Chris Mahony.
Hawke's Bay: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Batger, 13 Jason Shoemark, 12 Sam Giddens, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Matt Berquist, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Grant Webb, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Michael Johnson (c), 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Matt Egan, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Faka'anaua Taumalolo
Replacements: 16 Jamie Muir, 17 Christian Pera, 18 Will Crutchley, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Chad Shepherd, 21 Aayden Clarke, 22 Justin Wilson.
