Auckland jigsaw puzzle with Tuitupou uncertainty

By DAVID LEGGAT

Selecting Auckland's starting XV for Saturday night's NPC first division final against Wellington should be a simple job for coach Wayne Pivac.

After all, this is a team who have rattled on 129 points in their last three games, lifted the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury and enchanted crowds with some dazzling backplay.



But there is a curly question for Pivac and his staff to ponder - the readiness of powerful second five-eighth Sam Tuitupou to return for the big finale. And around that decision, several other smaller spinoffs are in the wind ahead of the showdown at the Cake Tin.

The easy part first: the pack is settled, no dramas there.

Tuitupou damaged a shoulder midway through the round-robin, played the shield challenge and scored a try, but missed the semifinal thriller in Dunedin last weekend. He ran with the team at Eden Park yesterday, but did no contact work.

Nevertheless Pivac was quietly optimistic his 21-year-old, 86kg ball of destructive midfield muscle would be running out on Saturday night.

"We'll have the final captain's run on Friday and make a decision then," Pivac said. "He's a little more advanced leading into this game than he was last week."

If Tuitupou is fit it appears Tane Tuipolutu will be at centre, and Brent Ward and Iliesa Tanivula on the wings. No Tuitupou brings Tony Koonwaiyou, who bagged two tries at Carisbrook, on to one wing, Ward switches flanks, Tanivula comes in to centre and Tuipolutu wears No 12.

Halfback David Gibson sat out training yesterday recovering from a bump on the ribs, but Pivac is sure he will be fit for the final. Wellington name their team today.

Auckland team

15 Orene Ai'i

14 Iliesa Tanivula or Brent Ward

13 Tane Tuipolutu or Tanivula

12 Sam Tuitupou or Tuipolutu

11 Ward or Tony Koonwaiyou

10 Tasesa Lavea

9 David Gibson

8 Xavier Rush (capt)

7 Justin Collins

6 Angus Macdonald

5 Brad Mika

4 Bryce Williams

3 John Afoa

2 Derren Witcombe

1 Nick White

Reserves: Nathan Kemp, Soane Tonga'uiha, Sione Lauaki, Craig de Goldi, Craig McGrath, Shannon Paku, Tuipolutu or Koonwaiyou.


href="http://nzrugby.com/standings/npc/2003/default.asp" target="new">NPC points table