Scrappy Auckland cruise in

Bucked off by Taranaki last week, Auckland were mighty glad to be clambering back on to a horse as friendly as Northland yesterday.

As a contest it was over as soon as Auckland found their way to the ground. Just turning up was always going to be enough but Auckland did at least go beyond the call of duty by stringing together some patches of decent football.

Not many, mind, but enough to rebuild some confidence - a commodity that will be vital these next two weeks with clashes against Wellington and Canterbury to come.

The games against that pair will be Auckland's litmus test. Having started this competition snorting steam, there's a nagging suspicion that - despite hitting the half ton yesterday - Auckland may have come off the boil.

Little worked with the fluency they would have liked and it always has to be kept in mind that when you play Northland, you are afforded a bit more leeway.

Wellington will not be so generous on defence and the backs may have to vary their strike point more, rather than looking to go wide all the time. The forwards, too, might have to be prepared to pick and drive a bit more and not be afraid to use their scrummaging superiority to try a few back-row moves.

Auckland coach Pat Lam summarised it nicely when he said: "The most important thing was we got back into a winning frame of mind. Everyone was disappointed last week and we have worked very hard, both on and off the field.

"That has been the story of our season [making silly mistakes] but we have still managed to come away with a few bonus point wins. We could have won more games by bigger margins and that is something we are striving to address."

The bonus point Auckland secured has made them just about safe for the playoffs and a decent bet to land a home fixture, at that.

The other good news for Lam is that next week he is expecting to have Jerome Kaino and Justin Collins back from injury and Ali Williams from All Black duty. That will present him with a number of intriguing selection dilemmas.

Bradley Mika is a rare sight, indeed, when he picks up off the back of the scrum and is certainly worth another look at No 8.

All Black coach Graham Henry believes it is Mika's best position and will no doubt be encouraging Lam to let the experiment run for at least another week.

However, that would leave Lam having to accommodate the talents of Collins, Kaino, Daniel Braid and Angus MacDonald, the latter scoring Auckland's second try with some superb support work.

"I thought Brad did well," said Lam of Mika. "He controlled the ball well for Stevie [Devine] and both he and Angus worked hard together. It was a big adjustment from lock for Brad and we will have to wait and see who is available next week before we can make our selections."

The logjam isn't just in the back row either. Sam Tuitupou is back playing quality football, running straight and punching holes. With Joe Rokocoko, who showed an insatiable appetite for the physical yesterday, Doug Howlett, Brent Ward and Ben Atiga expected to be fit next week, there are going to be some tough calls for Lam.

These are exactly the problems coaches want to have and Northland's Donny Stevenson would happily own. Northland have now gone 25 games without a win - one of those embarrassing records that leads to shuffling of the feet, looking at the floor, tuneless whistling and a rapid change of subject to the weather forecast.

Stevenson, who was thrust into the job only a couple of weeks ago, remains remarkably chipper. His spirits were lifted by a soul-searching session on Friday night, at which the players were invited to offload and have their say.

"We went back and revisited our goals and talked about the need to restore pride in the jersey and keep our heads up. Against Otago last week we came into the shed 10 points adrift but our body language suggested the game was over. It was unacceptable to show signs like that, saying that we are in for another long 40 minutes.

"I didn't think we were 50 points worse than Auckland. I was encouraged that a number of players put their hands up. We didn't give up and that is not something we have been able to say after every game."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY