Pride face tough task

By JULIE ASH

Wellington are the only team to have beaten Auckland and they hope to repeat their 1994 success when the sides clash in the national provincial women's final at Eden Park today.

The Auckland Storm have won both NPC titles since the competition officially began in 1999.

They have charged through this year's competition unchallenged, beating Waikato 26-6, Bay of Plenty 18-5, Canterbury 25-5, Otago 24-0 and Wellington 23-9 in the round-robin competition and Otago again 22-7 in the semifinals.

Auckland's win over the Wellington Pride came after they were down 9-3 at halftime.

"We didn't play to our full potential and didn't make the most of our scoring opportunities," Auckland coach Davida White said. "Wellington have an aggressive forward pack, they always have, and we just have to combat that."

With 14 past or present Black Ferns, Auckland are expected to dominate.

It is the second time Wellington have played in a final and coach Nigel Solomon is well aware his side will have to shut down Auckland's backline who can attack from anywhere on the field.

"They have got a team full of Black Ferns, what else can you say. We are going in as underdogs but we like it that way," Solomon said.

"We held them out for 68 minutes the last time we played [in the round-robin].

"If we are going to beat them, it is going to have to be a team effort."

The match, at 2.30 pm, is the first of three curtainraisers to the NPC match between Auckland and Wellington.