High-flying Taranaki a big test

Northland - 1 Pene Kaufusi, 2 Ross Wright, 3 Scott Vessey, 4 Jack Whetton, 5 Bryce Williams, 6 Will Whetton/Hale T-Pole, 7 Jack Ram, 8 Cam Goodhue, 9 Samisoni Fisilau/Tane Takalua, 10 Ash Moeke, 11 Mateo Malupo, 12 Derek Carpenter, 13 Rene Ranger, 14 Faatoina Autagavaia, 15 Matt Wright. Reserves: 16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Justin Davies, 18 Hale T-Pole/Dan Faleafa, 19 Dan Pryor, 20 Tane Takalua, 21 Orene Ai'i, 22 Dan Caprice.

Northland's defence will face a stern challenge this evening when they host ITM Cup joint premiership leaders Taranaki at Toll Stadium.

Cam Goodhue says they're aware of how Taranaki play but they have been concentrating on making their own systems work in practice this week. The Kamo loosie says they are prepared for another big forward battle.

"We'll try and get up quicker but what we're really honing in on is communicating better on defence in the chase line because if we don't holes open up," he said.

Taranaki are one of the form teams of the competition. They beat a good Canterbury side to retain the Ranfurly Shield last weekend but, despite scoring five tries, they were outplayed by Auckland 43-32 on Wednesday night and that makes Goodhue believe they are vulnerable.

"Their pack is always sensational and there are some real threats in the Taranaki backline too and we'll be tested there - but, hopefully, by the time they get here they'll be a little off their game because of their recent tough schedule," he said.

A win is vital for the Taniwha to maintain their momentum but Taranaki are backing up after their first loss and their coach Colin Cooper will be targeting five points from the match.

"If we do win this game, then it's going to get really exciting for us - it's really important because we've got two games on the road after that so this one can really set us up," Goodhue said.

The No8 put in one of the many standout performances during last week's scrappy win over Tasman but still believes he has some work to do to regain full fitness after returning from injury against North Harbour last week.

The team has a much more settled look to it this week with only three changes to the team that took the field against Tasman, although two players - Samisoni Fislau and Hale T-Pole - will have to pass late fitness tests to feature in the match.

Jack Whetton replaces Dan Faleafa at lock, while his brother, Will, is bracketed with T-Pole at blindside. The other change is positional with Matt Wright moving to fullback while Faatoina Autagavaia takes his place on the right wing.

Dan Prior returns to the side after an injury break but can't displace Jack Ram in the starting line-up after the openside flanker's great performance in Blenheim.

Taniwha coach Adriaan Ferris said the team would again be under pressure to perform against a classy side.

"We know how Taranaki play and we have a plan to counter that and it all starts up front," Ferris said.