Rugby: Southern men to test mettle in NPC battle

By WYNNE GRAY

Southland v Auckland

Hard yakka was always associated with southern rugby.

The dictum has been reinforced for Southland since they made an inauspicious start to the NPC with a heavy loss to Northland.

Various commitments meant the team had not been together long before that game, but new coach Leicester Rutledge was unimpressed.

He was even more unhappy when the statistics came back and missed tackles added up to 42. Rutledge ordered his version of commando rugby training.

Heavy frosts in a cold Invercargill winter were not going to interfere with his plans for two gym sessions starting at 6 am and three hard training sessions each week.

Missed tackles against Taranaki last week were down to 15 and Southland almost forced a victory they hope to find in an upset at home against Auckland today.

Even though Auckland were shoddy in their work against Counties Manukau in the last round, Southland's record of just three wins in first division in the 1990s shows what a boilover a win would be for them today.

Their deeds this season have not been widely seen. Television cover has been restricted, but they have some useful players.

Brumbie imports Peter Ryan and Graeme Bond add some sting, Brendon Timmins is a grafting lock and captain, Brett McCormack is a solid servant and Davin Heaps guides a strong front row.

A draft player to the Blues this season, Heaps passed in the job as skipper because of a busy workload on his Wyndham farm. He skirts round Southland's prospects, but is keen to give some of his Super 12 teammates a southern welcome.

"We're not going too bad now, eh. But we were so far behind the 8-ball because of our lack of time together at the start of the NPC," he said.

"Leicester is trying to do a whole lot of different things, trying to get us into the professional era a bit more, taking advice from a lot of people with good rugby knowledge. Now it is up to us."

Heaps said Southland did not believe a day of foul weather would help their plans. They preferred the opposite, and it looked as though conditions would be pleasant.

Rutledge has made one change to his starting lineup, Mal Arnold coming in at fullback with Aaron Kimura going to the bench. Auckland have named just about their strongest team as their mission has to be a bonus point win after missing the maximum against Counties.

Former captain Robin Brooke is still on the bench, but his form last week suggests he will not be out of the play long if the Auckland forwards perform poorly.

The scrum has looked a little wobbly, but Craig Dowd's return from All Black duty will help. against what should be a strong response from the local pack.