KEY POINTS:
Having dominated last year's national championship round robin only to be tipped over at home by Wellington in the semifinal, Auckland aren't about to take their eye off the ball for the visit of Hawkes Bay.
Despite his side being hot favourites to progress, coach Pat Lam wouldn't
entertain questions about a possible final - including whether returning All Blacks might be recalled - at yesterday's training session.
"We are not in the final," Lam said. "The only game we have is Hawkes Bay. We have got to get past this game."
Auckland have made just the two changes for the match, bringing in prop Saimone Taumoepeau for Chris Heard and gargantuan No 8 Brad Mika for Angus Macdonald.
Mika enjoyed a field day behind Auckland's dominant scrum in their 38-11 round six victory over the Magpies in Napier but has been used off the bench in recent weeks.
His recall suggests Auckland will use the same forward-oriented approach to subdue a Hawkes Bay side that pulled off the comeback of the season to defeat Waikato in Sunday's quarter-final.
"We realise it is going to be won up front," Lam said.
"Brad played well against Canterbury and he has played well all year. Last week, he was carrying a bit of an injury and we decided to use him for impact."
No one in the Auckland camp was surprised to be facing the Magpies.
"Our whole team backed them in the virtual [rugby picking competition]," Lam said.
"We exposed Waikato's defence back in round three and all the good attacking teams have exposed them throughout the season. We knew Hawkes Bay had a good attack and they exposed that defence on the weekend. It didn't surprise us that they've come through."
Hawkes Bay have stiffened their scrum with the mid-season recruitment of former Hurricanes prop Tim Fairbrother but Auckland should still enjoy a significant advantage at set piece time.
Lam has certainly been drilling into his team the importance of winning the battle up front.
"The boys realise it is going to be a physical battle. They are a good team who are riding a wave so it is important we front up."
He said last year's semifinal defeat by Wellington still rankled and no stone had been left unturned in ensuring there would be no repeat tomorrow. on Saturday.
"[Last year's defeat] has been a motivating factor driving us for every game. We don't want to be sitting in that changing room realising that we didn't cover everything. So we are making sure we get all the little things right."