Braid returns for Ranfurly Shield demolition

By CHRIS RATTUE

Daniel Braid made his comeback from a shoulder injury during Auckland's 116-3 Ranfurly Shield win against Poverty Bay and coach Pat Lam says he should be pushing for a return to the All Black ranks by the end of the season.

Braid, who had surgery after last year's World Cup, suffered more damage during this year's Super 12. As intended, he played about 50 minutes into the demolition of Poverty Bay at Eden Park yesterday.

Lam said Braid was a long way short of consideration for the All Blacks now, should they suffer more problems at openside.

Braid may have figured highly in Graham Henry's plans with Richie McCaw's future in doubt.

But Lam said: "He hasn't had a game for a long time and we want to build him into the season slowly.

"By the end of the NPC he may come into the reckoning for the end of year tour. But he's got a way to go."

Braid's health and the form of converted halfback Orene Ai'i and No 8 Bradley Mika were the talking points in a Ranfurly Shield match played in dreary conditions, and in front of a few hundred people. A great Ranfurly Shield day this was not.

Ai'i, who is bidding for test honours in his new position, showed some spark but clearly has some way to go. He took up the goalkicking duties yesterday but was not overly-convincing.

Mika had a storming game, tormenting the Bay defenders and finishing with three of Auckland's 18 tries. Lam was delighted with how the new-look side gelled, although the blindside defence in particular was shaky.

"This and the Counties game on Sunday will act as a trial for the NPC squad. Today showed that we face some hard decisions," said Lam.

"We were very impressed in the coaching box. There will be some headaches and difficult decisions, which is exactly what I wanted.

"We wanted to make sure that we had some competition for the guys playing Super 12 and in the All Blacks."

Captain Angus Macdonald praised the Bay, saying: "In games like that you expect a bit of niggle but they were quite good. You've got to really hand it to them. They tackled all day. I take my hat off to them."

Poverty Bay coach Kiwi Searancke was a touch disappointed by the points blowout.

"It was a hard day. Getting beat by 100 is not a nice feeling," he said.

"But I'm pretty proud of them. One scrum session, two lineout sessions, one team training run.

"We expected that but we were probably disappointed we turned over ball we had fought hard to get. A lot of individuals out there did okay."