Harbour won't ease up against Southland

North Harbour coach Allan Pollock reckons he had "no temptation at all" to give some of his backup players a start against Southland on Sunday ahead of next week's semifinals.

Pollock won't name his starting XV until today, but it is unlikely to vary much, if at all, from the side that thumped Taranaki 37-3 last weekend to secure their top four place.

When Harbour hosted Northland in round four, Pollock gave the bulk of his bench a start to keep them in match mode.

But not this time, and that stems in part from what Pollock calls the "measure of our respect for Southland" but also the desire to maintain winning ways going into the most important part of the campaign.

"We don't see this as a breathing space before we go into the hurly burly of the semifinals. We see it as an NPC game that needs to be won," Pollock said.