KEY POINTS:
Valuable early season momentum is up for grabs when the defending national champions take on the title favourites at Eden Park tonight.
Waikato and Auckland have made solid, unbeaten starts to the season but are facing their first real test. With both sides set to lose just the one player from tonight's starting line-ups to All Black World Cup duty, the match should be a fair indicator as to who has coped best reshuffling their cards in a year when there will be no aces to pull from sleeves in the later rounds.
Excluding Waikato halfback Brendon Leonard and prolific Auckland wing Doug Howlett - who requires two tries to bring up 50 for the province - what we see tonight will be pretty much what we get in October should the two sides clash in the play-offs. The exception to that rule is Sione Lauaki, whose wildcard presence on the Waikato bench could provide an interesting twist.
Auckland coach Pat Lam appears to have the greater resources to draw from but he will be mindful of a Waikato side who, despite drawing 22-22 in last year's corresponding match at Eden Park, were generally a step or two ahead of the competition in taking out the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup.
Nagging away in the back of Lam's mind may also be the memory of Auckland's heaviest defeat, a 59-11 hammering dished out by Waikato in 2004 in his first season in charge of Auckland.
Lam's side has been largely untested in sweeping aside Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty by a combined score of 80-8. But a lack of patience, forced passes and a propensity to shift the ball too wide too early have been the weak points. Lam prefers to accentuate the positives, which include the high number of scoring chances created and two overpowering finishes, which suggest his players' physical conditioning is spot on and that the side's bench players are making a telling impact.
"We know that we have got areas to work on but the stats show that we are actually doing a lot of things right," Lam said.
"They also show we are not making the most of the opportunities we are creating.
"But the thing I am always after in this first part [of the season] is the attitude and the work ethic. A lot of guys are trying hard and working hard and you can't fault that.
"It is about improving in every game and we were better in the Bay [of Plenty] game than we were in the Counties game."
The need to demonstrate more patience in attack was not a new concept for his side.
"We [preach that] every week. The guys here have some real natural talent and it is important they show that [patience] and don't get too excited."
Waikato coach Warren Gatland was also pleased with his side's steady progress after an indifferent pre-season campaign.
"We've had a couple of weeks to settle in to [the competition] and we've had a couple of wins, so we are pretty happy about that, but this is definitely our first big game," he said.
Waikato's run-in has consisted of a comfortable first-up win over Manawatu followed by a hard-fought 22-11 win over Southland last week in conditions so poor Gatland didn't even bother to review the tape.
With a young backline shorn of the likes of Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu and the injured Richard Kahui, Waikato's strength this season is in the pack, particularly the loose forwards where Liam Messam and Steven Bates have been in sizzling form.
The backline, which includes former Auckland midfielder Roimata Hansell-Pune, hasn't been so hot, particularly on defence.
"Our strength is up front," Gatland said. "With the backline, it is just a matter of throwing them in there and saying, 'Learn from time in the middle"'.
Gatland said he had been impressed by the standard of the competition so far and wasn't concerned at the small crowd size at some venues.
"We didn't have a great crowd [against Southland] but you could put a lot of that down to the weather.
"Generally, the Waikato public are fantastic and, in two weeks, there'll probably more Waikato supporters at Albany [for the Ranfurly Shield match] than there will be North Harbour supporters."
Eden Park, 5.30 today
Auckland
Brent Ward
Doug Howlett
Ben Atiga
Sam Tuitupou
David Smith
Isa Nacewa
Taniela Moa
Brad Mika
Daniel Braid
Jerome Kaino
Jay Williams
Kurtis Haiu
John Afoa
Lance Po-Ching
S. Taumoepeau
Waikato
Jared Payne
Sosene Anesi
Dwayne Sweeney
R. Hansell-Pune
Roy Kinikinilau
Stephen Donald
Brendon Leonard
Liam Messam
Marty Holah
Steven Bates
Toby Lynn
Mark Burman
Nathan White
Tom Willis (c)
Craig West
Reserves
Auckland: Nick White, Chris Heard, Troy Flavell, Onosa'i Tololima'Auva'a, Grayson Hart, Lachie Munro, Benson Stanley.
Waikato: Lionel Wairau, Bradley Chubb, Kent Fife, Sione Lauaki, David Bason, William Ripia, Jackson Willison.
