Auckland's greenhorns will face a test of their mettle tomorrow night against the Southland Stags as the ITM Cup kicks off in Invercargill.
Coach Paul Feeney has named a 23 long on talent but short on caps. Prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi will skipper the side while Simon Hickey gets over his knee complaint.
Tu'ungafasi was in the All Blacks camp last month and will need to mark up and anchor the scrum up against Southland centurion and talismanic captain Jamie Mackintosh.
Lock Michael Fatialofa is one of 11 who will play their first game for Auckland, but he should have plenty of intel on Southland, having played 36 games for the Stags. The Southland pack includes seasoned hard nuts such as Elliot Dixon, Josh Bekhuis and Tim Boys while former Auckland pivot Ash Moeke will turn out in the No10 jersey.
"We're under no illusions about tomorrow night. Southland has a really good pack and some good backs," said Feeney. "Playing at home, nothing would fire them up more than the Jafas going down there. They are lying in wait to bush-whack us, so it will be a very difficult game and a great test for our guys."
