RUGBY - Taniwha in mass rub-down

Who knew that getting the nod as the physiotherapist attached to the Northland rugby team this season would become so critical?
When the Taniwha assembled in Whangarei to start the countdown to their all-important Air NZ Cup clash with Southland on Friday night, the queue at the massage table was something to behold.
Captain Justin Collins was seeking a cure to a wrenched elbow, David Holwell is still getting his dinged-up shoulder treated and lock Brad Taylor had a few indiscriminate bruises to sort out.
If flanker Joel McKenty was a car he would be sailing very close to being a write-off - the panel damage on his body is too extensive to list here - and even winger Rene Ranger is in on the act with a hamstring playing up.
So don't expect Northland coach Mark Anscombe to narrow down his starting team for Friday night's perilously critical clash in Invercargill.
"There is nothing new, just a few on-going niggles after a tough start to the competition," Anscombe said.
"It has been a tough few weeks in the championship; we had back-to-back six-day turn-arounds and some difficult weather to play and train in so we just have to monitor players and keep them fresh and make sure they are in good shape on game day," he said.
Anscombe's optimism is well-founded, as Holwell and McKenty have already proven how resilient they can be this season.
It will take a monumental international incident to keep Collins off the paddock too.
But he will be sweating on the abilities of the medical staff, especially after watching Southland compete against Auckland at the weekend.
Auckland won 44-19, but Southland showed enough to set off a couple of alarms in Anscombe's coaching laptop.
"I thought Southland gave Auckland a good hurry-up actually," he said.
"It is just the depth and strength of talent Auckland have that made the little bit of difference.
"I think the game showed how formidable Southland are on home turf.
"If we (Northland) go down there, play to our strength and get a win we will be sitting pretty on the table. We have got two wins in a row for the first time in who knows how long - why can't that be three in a row?"
After scoring the win - a gutsy 9-3 victory in atrocious conditions - over Tasman on Thursday night, most of the Northland squad were given the weekend off to recover, and celebrate.
But Anscombe wasn't the only one warning the players to stay focused this week, though. Collins was also keen on keeping things tight this week.
"When you manage to win a couple of games, and a couple of tight ones, the boys gain a bit of confidence. With the confidence they start to step up. The more we can do that the better we will all play," Collins said.
"I know what I am going to say when we have a meeting. We have had a couple of reasonable performances but we need to keep improving each week.
"We definitely need to keep our feet on the ground because you will come crashing down in an almighty heap if you are not careful."