Auckland v Canterbury
Eden Park, 7.35 tonight
Benson Stanley could have been forgiven for wondering what he'd stepped into as he surveyed his Auckland team's opening performance in the national championship.
The second five-eighths is captaining Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup this season for the first time, but missed the 47-13 mauling by Hawkes Bay
as he got some matchplay under his belt for Ponsonby in the Gallaher Shield final.
Stanley has been sidelined since the opening round of the Super 14 when he badly tore a hamstring. "It took me a while to catch the game," Stanley said. "I came off the field for Ponsonby and everyone was on my back, saying 'have you seen Auckland?'."
The 24-year-old will lead his province for the first time against Canterbury tonight and it's asking plenty of the young man to pull Auckland into shape for a decent challenge this season, but he's up for it.
"It's a lot of responsibility but you can't shirk that," he said. "All I can do is try to reassure them to be as confident as they can and express themselves on the field."
There is a strong whiff of leadership around Stanley, whose younger brother Winston will be on the left wing tonight. Coach Mark Anscombe reeled off the qualities which appealed to him when settling on a leader for this campaign.
"He's a good player so he's certain of his position when fit," Anscombe said. "He's a very level-headed young man, smart, understands the game, is well respected and keeps his head under pressure. That's really important."
Much as there is the need to put out of their minds the events of last Saturday in Napier, it's also important the players learn from the experience.
"On Monday everyone was a bit down - 'don't look at me', that sort of thing," Stanley said. "But you've got to go through that a bit. By Tuesday it was all out of the system. We said 'we've got a choice, go and hide or we can front up'.
"All the guys have said, well bugger it, let's turn up for the next game, prepare as best we can and try to right those things."
The one issue most clearly in need of remedying was the breakdown and the intensity - or lack of it - Auckland brought to the most contentious area of the game.
Hawkes Bay hoed in with relish, and more combativeness is what Auckland need tonight. "In today's game you've got to be abrasive at the breakdown," Anscombe added. "You've got to look after the ball you've won and really put pressure on their ball."
Stanley put it more succinctly: "If you don't front up in the contact area you're going to get done".
Canterbury have a couple of decent loose forwards in captain George Whitelock and Michael Paterson combining with debutant No 8 Mike Coman, a good scrum and some talented backs.
With Daniel Carter to run the cutter, expect Canterbury to want to play as much of the game in Auckland's half as possible. Theirs' tends to be a simple strategy, which, when put into operation by good quality footballers, is highly effective.
"They are pretty much the benchmark in terms of consistency and how they play," Stanley said. "But we have to focus on ourselves and be proud of what we're doing. I think that will go a long way to help us perform and hopefully getting the result we want."
First five-eighths Daniel Bowden was one of Auckland's better players in Napier and his ability is not in doubt. Tonight he has a nippier halfback in Grayson Hart inside him and if the pair are given a solid platform to work from, Auckland should be competitive.
It's all about small steps for a team short of experienced players and with only prop John Afoa of their All Black contingent allowed to play tonight. But at least their captain appeals as a bloke with a head for the job.
Waikato should open their account against Manawatu in Hamilton this afternoon. All Blacks Aled de Malmanche and Brendon Leonard return, as does burly No 8 Sione Lauaki.
They're unlikely to have it all their own way, as Manawatu will have taken considerable heart from their first-round win over Counties-Manukau - not to mention Northland's surprise, but richly deserved win over Taranaki on Thursday night.
Counties host Bay of Plenty at Pukekohe tomorrow, probably still wondering how they let slip a 10-point halftime advantage over Manawatu last Sunday.
AUCKLAND v CANTERBURY:
Auckland
Paul Williams
Dave Thomas
Teddy Stanaway
Benson Stanley (c)
Winston Stanley
Daniel Bowden
Grayson Hart
Peter Saili
Onosai Auva'a
Kurtis Haiu
Jay Williams
A van der Heijden
John Afoa
Tom McCartney
Tevita Mailau
Reserves: Francis Smith, Paea Fa'anunu, Dean Budd, Hamish Paterson, Taniela Moa, Ash Moeke, Atieli Pakalani.
Canterbury
Colin Slade
James Paterson
Tim Bateman
Ryan Crotty
Sean Maitland
Dan Carter
Tyson Keats
Mike Coman
G. Whitelock (c)
Michael Paterson
James Broadhurst
Sam Whitelock
Peter Borlase
Ti'i Paulo
Wyatt Crockett
Reserves: Will Catherwood, Andrew Olorenshaw, Luke Romano, Matt Todd, Willi Heinz, Stephen Brett, Adam Whitelock