KEY POINTS:
For once there's more than a hint of realism in Auckland coach Pat Lam's cautious tone.
The surprise package of this year's national championship, third-placed Hawkes Bay head into tonight's match on the back of a comfortable dismantling of Counties Manukau.
Auckland, on the other hand, while unbeaten, are backing up from their least convincing display of the season against Taranaki at Eden Park.
"If we don't play as a team in this cauldron we will get done," Lam said shortly after stepping off the plane in Napier. "It is vitally important that the guys are really up for this, which I am confident they will be."
Hawkes Bay have already knocked off Wellington and North Harbour in their two home matches this season and McLean Park is expected to be a sellout tonight for the visit of a province the hosts have not beaten for 33 years. Their coach, Peter Russell, said that history was definitely being used as a motivation tool.
"We have mentioned that all week, about legacies and becoming folklore and all that sort of thing," Russell said.
"I believe we have got the team to do that. But it is pretty important to realise we are up against a squad that has got 14 Super 14 players and a couple of ex-All Blacks."
Hawkes Bay's renaissance may have caught a few pundits by surprise but Russell, who coached Wairarapa Bush to victory in last year's Heartland Championship, certainly wasn't among them.
"When we looked at the mix of players we had pre-season we knew we wanted to make the quarter-finals," he said. "I threw the spanner in and said, 'look, I think we can win the Air New Zealand Cup'."
With a visit to Canterbury to follow tonight's match, that ambition is about to be truly put to the test.
Lam, while not quite going as far as claiming underdog status, said Russell's Magpies had every right to be talking themselves up.
"They deserve to be [confident]. They have gone well," he said.
Auckland, on the other hand, needed to go back to basics and would be adopting a simple and direct game plan, he said. "We were all disappointed with the way we went last week.
"There has been emphasis on being clinical with passing and catching - just keeping it real simple."
Last Friday's stinker against Taranaki had come out of the blue after the best training session of his coaching reign, Lam said.
"Nothing went down - it was like the Auckland of old. But when we arrived [at the ground] it was a beautiful night and some of the boys thought 'let's just throw it around' and we got really loose with our passing."
That carefree approach has long been Auckland's only glaring weakness and Taranaki's success in disrupting them won't have been lost on Russell, who declined to expand on his game plan.
"We have nutted it out pretty well and that's where I'll leave it."
But the coach did say his side were still an unknown quantity and better could be expected of them as the season heads past its midway point.
"I think we are still flying under the radar a little bit because a lot of teams don't know our players and what we are capable of. But there's a lot more to come out of our team yet."
While self-belief had been the key to the Magpies' revival, they were wary of becoming over confident, Russell said.
"The [worst] thing you can do is be too cocky. We are mindful that you have got to show these teams some respect but we need to earn some respect back as well. We have just got to get into them."
Napier, 7.05 tonight
HAWKES BAY
15. Ben Batger
14. Justin Wilson
13. Jason Shoemark
12. Sam Giddens
11. Zac Guildford
10. Matt Berquist
9. Danny Lee (c)
8. Grant Webb
7. Karl Lowe
6. Michael Johnson
5. Will Crutchley
4. Matt Egan
3. Tom Symes
2. Hikawera Elliot
1. F. Taumalolo
Reserves: Jamie Muir, Arden David, Lua Lokotui, Gaorge Naoupu, Chris Eaton, Aayden Clarke, Israel Dagg.
AUCKLAND
15. Brent Ward
14. Benson Stanley
13. Ben Atiga
12. Sam Tuitupou (c)
11. David Smith
10. Isa Nacewa
9. Taniela Moa
8. Brad Mika
7. Daniel Braid
6. Jerome Kaino
5. Jay Williams
4. Kurtis Haiu
3. John Afoa
2. Tom McCartney
1. Chris Heard
Reserves: Saimone Taumoepeau, Nick White, Stan Haukinima, Charlie Faumuina, Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a, Grayson Hart, Lachie Munro.
