Lam-given guarantee: We will entertain

Auckland officials may be twitchy over empty seats at Eden Park, but coach Pat Lam has other things on his mind.

His view is simple: control the controllables, and in his case that means Auckland pressing on towards the Air New Zealand Cup final in a fortnight.

First, there's a quarter-final against Bay of Plenty at Eden Park today in a rematch of a remarkable pool game in August.

It's not that Lam doesn't give a hoot how many spectators turn up in what has become one of the big worries of the inaugural competition, with its attendant issues of fan burnout and dodgy playing standards in some instances. It's more that his concerns are on field.

"It really doesn't bother me," he said of the small turnouts. "That's just the way it is. But the one thing we guarantee is those who do come will be entertained. We can only control what we control."

In nine games this season, Auckland have scored 39 tries, four more than top qualifiers Waikato. They've invariably been worth watching and have never wavered from their philosophy of giving the ball plenty of air, even if the situation appears unpromising.

Take the Bay's last visit. They were 20-6 up late in the first half, and Auckland were dreadful.

But they woke up in the second half, helped admittedly by Bay losing the plot, or more particularly their loose forwards Nili Latu and Warren Smith, who picked up yellow cards for high tackles in quick succession.

The tries poured in and Auckland won 45-27.

Slow starts have been a problem for Auckland at times this season, and Lam acknowledged that, putting it down to a "mental thing".

Last weekend, it cost them a win in Christchurch, where they gave up a 24-6 halftime advantage. Teams rarely do that and win against Canterbury.

Even though it's knockout time, Auckland are unlikely to vary their game plan, and with All Blacks Keven Mealamu and Ali Williams anchoring the pack, and wings Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko operating in tandem, the intensity should step up.

Lam wanted consistency from his team this season. They have won seven of nine so far, and have got there largely without All Blacks. The coach is proud of what's been achieved so far. Now it's the job of the heavy hitters to get Auckland to back-to-back titles.

"Finals rugby you can win on talent. One of our goals was being consistent through the round robin, which builds us into finals rugby, and now it steps up another level again," Lam said.

Auckland, with 12 All Blacks in the starting XV, should win more comfortably than they did in August, but the Bay won't die wondering.

They won the Ranfurly Shield on Eden Park a couple of years ago and even if the faces have changed, they have a decent pack and young men who should relish the chance to test themselves against top quality footballers.

"We're not going to lie down for them. We're not going to make it easy," Bay coach Andre Bell said.

"We've got a chance to win the championship and there are six other teams that don't have that opportunity. It's exactly where we want to be."

Another incentive? Super 14 contracts aren't far away.