By WYNNE GRAY
One game does not kill a season, but it has been a very tough rugby week for Counties Manukau.
For new coach Andrew Talaimanu, the 58-15 thrashing by North Harbour in the NPC opening round was one of the lowest moments in his long association with Counties.
It was so
bad that Talaimanu struggled with dinner afterwards at one of the city's trendy restaurants. He just wanted to slink home.
Talaimanu is still battling to work out why his team were hammered. There were no excuses, the preparation had been fine, and he still believed in the players.
"Maybe I gave them too much rope but the other night I gave them the barbed wire," he said.
"Perhaps we got a fright in the game, I don't know, because we lacked composure. But they let a lot of people down, and obviously themselves, though I must take responsibility for that.
"I told them if they had played Auckland or Canterbury, a top Super 12 side with their All Blacks, it would have been much more embarrassing," said Talaimanu.
In his analysis, he noted 28 turnovers and 32 missed tackles, statistics which were totally unacceptable. The result was some rugged training this week for Sunday's meeting with Auckland at Pukekohe.
Loki Crichton and captain Danny Lee should have recovered enough from injury to be picked, while wing Joeli Vidiri is certain to be in.
Former Auckland captain Robin Brooke is back on the bench to help out after a foot injury to lock Charles Reichelmann. Brooke was left out of the original squad though coach Wayne Pivac was sure he would be needed.
Nick White will come into the side at tighthead prop for All Black Craig Dowd, while halfback Steve Devine may rest after taking a few minor injuries into the last game and receiving a pounding.
For tomorrow night's start to the second round, Canterbury and North Harbour have just replaced their absent All Blacks. Harbour skipper Troy Flavell will be replaced by either Jeff Fahrensohn or Phil Weedon, while Con Barrell, Dallas Seymour and Johnny Leo'o come into Canterbury for Greg Somerville, Scott Robertson and Reuben Thorne.