Auckland go Ranfurly Shield hunting tonight in Napier.
Fresh off their best display of 2015, a 28-19 defeat of Tasman in Blenheim, the Premiership union will seek to touch the Log o' Wood for the first time since 2008, when they were blanked 27-0 by Jamie Joseph's Wellington Lions. They have since endured two unsuccessful challenges, the last a 9-6 reverse against Southland in 2010.
"We're rapt with the Tasman performance. That was a real litmus test," said Auckland coach Paul Feeney. "We'd said on Saturday that if you wanted to play in the Shield game then you needed to put in a good performance against Tasman."
Lock Scott Scrafton returns in the only change to the starting XV. Rieko Ioane is released to the Auckland Under 19s for the national tournament in Taupo, but may be back for the October 3 Northland clash.
There is not a lot of personal Shield history to draw from for Auckland. Technical adviser Allan Pollock coached North Harbour to win it off Canterbury in 2006, while assistant coach Nick White played when Auckland wrested it off the Cantabs in 2007 and when they lost it to Wellington the following year. None of the Auckland squad have played for the Shield in the blue and white jersey, though four, including bracketed lock Michael Fatialofa, have played for it at other provinces.