Edgy Wellington coach eyes 'world-beaters' Waikato

By CHRIS RATTUE

Wellington coach Dave Rennie has rated Waikato as world beaters after they dealt to champions Canterbury in the latest round of the NPC.

Rennie's Wellington, with a fragile forward pack, will be heavy underdogs in the capital on Saturday night when they face Waikato, the unbeaten leaders.

Waikato followed their fine win in New Plymouth 11 days ago with a stunning performance against Canterbury's All Blacks, winning 59-41 in Hamilton.

They have lost halfback Isaac Boss, with a broken jaw, for the season, but appear in increasingly good health elsewhere, with David Hill, Mark Ranby and Guy Coleman back training although still in doubt for Saturday.

Rennie said: "I've had a good look at the tape and I think Waikato would have beaten any side in the world on that performance against Canterbury. They beat the All Blacks, didn't they?

"Their intensity over 80 minutes was phenomenal. Teams lift against Canterbury but often drop off after 40, 50, 60 minutes.

"Canterbury probably expected that but it didn't happen. Every year you see some outstanding performances and this was one of them - a classic game.

"Waikato have a lot of ball carriers. Most teams have two or three but their whole pack carries the ball well.

"Deon Muir is so inspirational. Unless he gets a call from the All Blacks the whisper is he will be off overseas and Bruce Reihana is definitely going - I guess Waikato are really playing their best for them in their final year. Muir is really on top of his game and leading so well.

"They've got the big strong forwards who can maul well but they also play the ruck and run game.

"You can't forget what the Crusaders did to New South Wales in the Super 12 but that [Waikato's] was one of the best performances I've seen for some time."

The Wellington forwards were rumbled back by North Harbour at Albany and the Lions clung to a win only through desperate defence aided by limited Harbour tactics.

"Teams attacked us up front in recent weeks with a fair deal of success," Rennie said. "One way to deal with Waikato is to deny them the ball and we'd like to disrupt their scrum and lineout, but that's easier said than done."

Meanwhile, Waikato B halfback Duncan Jamieson joins the squad in place of Boss, whose jaw - broken when he tried to tackle Scott Robertson - has been operated on.

And Northland, who have yet to register an NPC point, have lost first five-eighths Jared Going to a knee injury for the season.