KEY POINTS:
The realist in Hawke's Bay rugby captain Danny Lee knows the true test of any team is how well they react to adversity.
For that reason he is reluctant to join the many singing the praises of a team who have done much to generate interest in the Air NZ Cup competition this season.
Hawke's Bay have defied all the predictions to sit a lofty third in the standings after five rounds, an away win over Southland in Invercargill being followed by a boilover victory over Wellington to quickly grab attention.
Further successes have followed against North Harbour and Counties-Manukau to lift Hawke's Bay to 20 points, but Lee knows their home match against joint leaders Auckland on Thursday marks the beginning of a make or break period for his side.
Next up are Canterbury in Christchurch, followed by Northland and Waikato in a mid-season schedule which will truly test Hawke's Bay pedigree as they aim to grab a quarterfinals berth.
"The main goal I tried to push on to the team this year is that we are in this competition to win games. It's not good enough just competing," former Highlanders Super 12 halfback Lee said today.
"We had our `feel' period last year to find where we sit in this competition. This year I wanted to instil a winning culture.
"At the moment it is working, but we have only done half the job so far and we have some really tough games coming up."
The challenge from a star-studded Auckland team would be formidable but Lee thought Taranaki showed what could be achieved against coach Pat Lam's team last weekend.
Taranaki went down just 13-22 in Auckland, giving Hawke's Bay plenty to chew on in the process.
"I'm sure Auckland will come here to run us around the field and try to create mismatches on attack," Lee said.
"We've been working hard this week on the plan to take on Auckland."
The best way to counter Auckland is to frustrate them by denying them points.
"We'll have to work hard to close down their space and cut down their time on the ball.
"Taranaki did that to a certain extent and really got in their faces. That is something we can take on board."
Lam has been impressed by what his opposite Peter Russell and assistant Tom Coventry have achieved and thinks his team can learn something from how Hawke's Bay have gone about their work.
"They're working hard and playing as a team," Lam said.
"There's no stars there. It's just a good work ethic and we need to match that if we have any chance of beating them."
Lam decided against making significant changes to his starting 15, opting instead to only slightly alter his pack.
Troy Flavell has been omitted after sustaining a minor hamstring strain and is replaced by Brad Mika while prop Chris Heard is elevated from the bench in a straight swap with Saimone Taumoepeau.
Lam said his players were disappointed with their performance against Taranaki and Hawke's Bay presented them with an opportunity to atone.
"We let ourselves down and there's a real desire to put that right, and we need to.
"It's a top-of-the-table clash and Hawke's Bay have been phenomenal this year and we're expecting a full house down there."
- NZPA
