RUGBY - Collins eyes that narrow quarterfinals gap

Northland rugby captain Justin Collins is bracing his team for an onslaught as he prepares to travel to Eden Park to meet Blues franchise partners Auckland in a pivotal Air NZ Cup game on Sunday.
It will be a day of mixed emotions for the enigmatic skipper, the event marking his first game for Northland at Auckland headquarters since he transferred back from the big city to his original home in Whangarei three years ago.
The wily 34-year-old loose forward reckons his team might just have the goods to spring a surprise on an Auckland team struggling for consistency.
If Northland manage a victory it will be a nice turn around for Collins. The last time he played in a game between Auckland and Northland at Eden Park he was in the celebrated blue and white stripes, and Northland scored a famous one-point win, in 1999.
Collins has feigned memory loss whenever his current Northland teammates have brought up that unforgettable game this week, but he is crystal clear about what his team need to do on Sunday.
In one succinct statement Collins can describe the coming occasion: "It is the last game of the year playing a top team, our franchise partners and the fact that we have a chance of making the quarterfinals from here against a team that hasn't been on fire, especially playing down at the home of rugby, I mean what more could you ask for."
Thanks to a string of close losses early in the campaign, then two fantastic victories on the trot in the past two weeks, if Northland manage a bonus point (four try) win over Auckland on Sunday they will extend their season into play-off mode for the first time since winning promotion 10 years ago.
But Collins is as aware as any that Northland's form has hardly been a model of rock solid consistency this year.
Brave defensive form one week has been followed by feather-weight tackling the next, attacking wizardry one second can be quickly wiped away by mindless activity the next.
With several senior players set to retire, a handful of others almost certain to move elsewhere and the carrot of Super 14 selection dangling, pressure has been replaced with excitement in the Northland camp.
Star back Rene Ranger has been moved from wing to centre to ensure a more regular involvement in the game, former Blues loose forward Blair Urlich has been promoted from the bench to start at No6 to counter the arrival of Auckland's All Black loosie Jerome Kaino and Brenton Helleur's attacking mindset has won him a start at halfback.
But even Collins admits it is always a guessing game as to which Northland team will turn up each weekend. If they can repeat their recent try scoring philosophy (they have scored 10 in two weeks) then Auckland could be in trouble.
If not, a magical quarterfinals appearance will soon evaporate.
"I see our inconsistency as a little disappointing, to be frank. I see the potential we have [that] we haven't used. We have had the opportunity to win a few more games this season which has been similar for the past three years really where games have just slipped by," he said.
"If we had won a few more games in the middle of the season we would have been in the quarterfinals already, but we have won a couple of important ones and now we have the chance to pull of a quarterfinal at the end of the season, so I suppose that's all good," Collins said.
THE TEAM
Northland team to play Auckland at Eden Park, Sunday, 2.35pm: 15 Jared Payne 14 Mikes Davis 13 Rene Ranger 12 Aden Dewes 11 Fetu Vainikolo 10 David Holwell 9 Brenton Helleur 8 Justin Collins (c) 7 Joel McKenty 6 Blair Urlich 5 Marty Veale 4 Dan Goodwin 3 Bronson Murray 2 Francis Smith 1 Tony Coughlan
Reserves: Tyler Ashworth, Jason Hammond, Roy Griffin, John Cocker, Derek Carpenter, Ash Moeke, James Rodley.