KEY POINTS:
Lachie Munro will be out to make Auckland coach Pat Lam's life difficult when he takes on Tasman at Eden Park tonight.
The 20-year-old first five-eighths has been in eye-catching form this season and another good display could provide Lam with a headache when regular centre Ben Atiga returns to selection contention, possibly as early as next week.
Lam's preferred formation before Atiga's hamstring injury saw Isa Nacewa starting at first five-eighths with Atiga at centre and Benson Stanley on the wing.
But with Nacewa a seemingly reluctant five-eighths and Munro making a decent fist of his starts in recent weeks, Lam may be forced to make a tough call if he is to relegate Munro back to the bench. Munro is in no doubt that getting a regular start has helped him develop his game.
"I've been sitting behind Isa for the last couple of years hoping for a bit of a break," he said. "Unfortunately for Ben [Atiga] he did a hammy but I've got a few games in a row under my belt now. It is great to have games back-to-back so you can work on things and hopefully make improvements.
"I'm working on different things each week, trying to move on and do new things."
At just 20, Munro is still one of the babies of the team but, having long been tagged as the Auckland playmaker of the future, he now feels comfortable in the star-studded Auckland setup. "I've been in the team for a while now even though I haven't played that many games.
"This team is so welcoming that you feel like one of the boys even if your game tally doesn't say so.
"And because the players around you are so good it makes it really easy to play your own game without worrying about anything else."
With six tries in his 14 appearances, many of which have been from the bench, Munro has the highest strike rate in the Auckland team.
His attacking flair has been evident but Lam has told him to work on his field generalship if he wants to make the 10 jersey his own.
"Luckily I have had a few games back-to-back and I've really been able to focus on leading the team around.
"They give you the opportunity, they say 'boss us around' but, as a youngster, it is really hard to take that and run with it. Even at trainings it is difficult, so it is my main work-on and something that I really need to get good at if I want to keep on playing."
Munro might not be intimidated by his teammates but he is still a bit in awe of his home ground.
With Tasman's visit to be followed by fellow southern struggler Otago, the Eden Park factor would ensure Auckland stayed on their game, he said.
"I always seem to get more nervous when I play at Eden Park than when I'm playing away. ... Everyone loves playing there and we want to perform well. We are right on Tasman this week and we should be able to put in a good performance."
Tasman went into the weekend in 11th place having lost their last four matches, but Lam said he was wary of a team with a strong Canterbury connection that had come within two points of upsetting Waikato last week.
"There's a big Canterbury influence there and they do move the ball," he said. "They play a really good brand of rugby so we need to make sure we are accurate in what we do."
