Rugby: Charlies in charge for Feeney

Charles Piutau was in sparkling form on the left wing in last Sunday's 30-24 victory over Premiership champions Taranaki.

Auckland coach Paul Feeney hopes both his Charlies play against Canterbury on Saturday, but then doesn't want to see them again in 2015.

Charles Piutau was in sparkling form, in all facets of his game, on the left wing in last Sunday's 30-24 victory over reigning Premiership champions Taranaki at Eden Park, but prop Charlie Faumuina was a non-starter after suffering concussion at training last week.

"It's great to have Charlie Piutau, but I hope we don't have him [next week when the RWC All Blacks are selected]. He's immense for us. His talk, his leg drive, the confidence he gives Lagi [Visinia] and Vince Aso," Feeney said.

He was hopeful Faumuina would pass all his concussion protocols to be able to suit up for Canterbury, mark Joe Moody, and make a late run for the World Cup.

"Hopefully he'll be right and we don't want to see him after August 30. I'd love to have him out there and hopefully we can help him go to the Rugby World Cup."

Feeney was under no illusions about how Auckland would have to play to defeat their old rivals after being unable to put Taranaki away until the 79th minute, despite a surfeit of possession.

"On paper, Canterbury would be the best side in the country, no problem," he said. "They've got the likes of Joe Moody, Ryan Crotty, Matt Todd and Patrick Osborne. You chuck them in there with men like Tom Taylor and that'll be a good challenge. We're looking forward to it.

"We just have to judge ourselves on what we do each week. We'll be under the pump, but these young fellas are competitive and love the challenge."

Auckland captain Simon Hickey - whose knee is now right, though he has yet to reclaim all the kicking duties because of not being able to put the work in - agrees.

"I think this win will give the boys a lot of confidence," the first five-eighths said. "We know we've got a good game plan, but it's about putting that out on the field. We did that in patches, but we'll need to do more if we want to get up over Canterbury."

Feeney could do without any more intercept passes thrown for tries, like the one gifted to Taranaki captain Charlie Ngatai, nor does he want to see any more loose play deep in Auckland's half.

But he liked the physicality brought by the pack, in particular from man of the match lock Liaki Moli, flanker Joe Edwards and No8 Akira Ioane.

They often pestered Taranaki ball carriers in maul situations to win turnovers. He also likes Ben Lam's output, and the wing has now scored nine tries in five games for Auckland, including pre-season games.

So we'll see Feeney's top 23 run out against Canterbury?

"I don't know who my strongest 23 is, so there's a bit of competition in the forwards. The locks will get changed a bit," he said.

"We can firm up our team after week four, when everyone's had a run or two."