Auckland will continue to take a cautious approach with former All Blacks flanker Daniel Braid and will look to give him around 40 minutes in Friday's match against Counties Manukau at Eden Park as he closes in on 100 games for the province.
Braid will start from the bench again as he recovers from a troubling groin injury.
"We'll be looking at getting him on the field at about the 40 minute mark so that's the plan for this week and we're just taking it very cautiously, listening to the medical staff as we'd hate for that groin injury to flare up again," coach Wayne Pivac said.
"He's on 95 games and has calculated that if he plays every game for the remainder of the season he'll get to 100 so that's obviously what he's keen to do and we're keen, where we can, to manage him through that process."
Pivac has made just one change to the side who beat Wellington 43-30 in their last outing. Ofa Tu'ungafasi will start at tighthead prop as Angus Ta'avao shifts to loosehead and Pauliasi Manu moves to the bench.
