KEY POINTS:
Having lost his captain, Nick Williams, to a knee injury - probably for the rest of the season - North Harbour coach Wayne Pivac has turned to some of Williams' Northcote clubmates to revive the union's sagging fortunes.
Called into the pack for tomorrow's provincial match against Manawatu at the North Harbour Stadium are lock Doug Fletcher and, for his first start at this level, the young No 8 Richard Mayhew.
Former All Black lock Greg Rawlinson will take over the leadership and another change sees Brett Ingham get his first start at halfback.
Otherwise, the Harbour side is pretty much the same as that which performed so dismally in losing the Ranfurly Shield to Waikato last weekend.
Curiously, though injuries have been a factor, there is no player in the 22-man squad for tomorrow from Takapuna, who have been the Harbour champions for the past two seasons and have been a force in Harbour rugby for many years.
Many have been surprised that at least one of Takapuna's most influential players, halfback John Volckman, despite a large turnover of players at No 9, has yet to be given a chance at this level.
Though the shield has gone, there will be considerable pressure on Harbour to at least gain a place in the Air NZ Cup quarter-finals.
One other question over tomorrow's game is how many will attend.
Crowd numbers were disappointing for the shield matches and there is much less box office appeal in a game against Manawatu, who have performed even worse than Harbour.
