There's little doubt that the biggest cheers at Toll Stadium today will be reserved for the Northland players in the Blues' team as they take on the Cheetahs.
There's also little doubt that if the Taniwha's most popular player, Rene Ranger, scores a try, it will bring the house down.
Northland's most
recent All Black said it was high time the Blues played a competition game in the province again and urged fans to come out and support the team as they endeavoured to win three games back-to-back.
"I'm really stoked to be able to run out in front of my home crowd and play some Super 15 footy up in Whangarei," Ranger said.
"The Blues have come up here to play some rugby, and we're finally getting some consistency on the field and we want to keep that going this weekend."
The Blues have a chance to take their winning form into their bye week, but Ranger has tasted defeat before against the Cheetahs - last year they were beaten 36-32 in the Free State - and he is wary of the threat they will bring.
"We went into that game last year thinking it was going to be an easy win and we found out the hard way that they are a good team, so we're not going take this game too lightly," he said.
The Cheetahs were regarded as easy beats away from home until they beat the Warratahs in Sydney two weeks ago.
Ranger said the team had taken great strides in becoming more consistent, since a poor performance earned them a draw against the Western Force in Perth. He saw that as a turning point in their season.
"Pat has put more onus on the players to perform up to their own standards and that has had an effect, players are preparing themselves better and consistency is a big thing at this level of rugby if you want to play good footy," he said.
The game kicks off at 5.30pm and is preceded by the curtain raiser between Mid Northern and the Western Sharks at 3pm.
