KEY POINTS:
It says a bit about Counties Manukau's return to the big time last season that one of the highlights of their national championship campaign was a loss.
That 23-20 defeat to eventual champions Waikato in Hamilton still looms large in Counties' thinking. It was, says coach Kevin Putt,
the performance that proved to his players they belonged in the top tier of the New Zealand game.
"I don't want to talk about what happened 12 months ago but it was one that was there for the taking," Putt said. "We had it right up until 10-12 minutes left."
For Waikato, it was also a watershed. After receiving a horrible scare at the hands of their Chiefs little brother, Warren Gatland's side raised their game and went on to take the title without dropping another game.
A discussion of last year's encounter had featured in Waikato's build-up to tonight's match.
"Last year the conditions were terrible and they got the bounce of the ball on a few occasions and caught us napping a wee bit."
Gatland has made several changes from the side that lost to Auckland on Saturday. David Bason has assumed the halfback role following the departure of Brendon Leonard. A nagging shoulder injury to regular first five-eighths Stephen Donald means Bason will be partnered by William Ripia in an all-new halves combination.
Flanker Liam Messam is also suffering from a shoulder injury so Steven Donald has switched to the blindside to accommodate the return of Steven Setephano at No 8.
Counties have also made changes, with Tanner Vili getting the start as first five-eighths after sparking last week's revival against North Harbour following a late switch.
Putt was buoyed by last week's performance but is wary of Waikato following his side's hammering by Canterbury a fortnight ago when they last faced a team from a Super 14 franchise base.
"We want to do a little bit better with our attack but we got a lot of good things out of the fact that we actually stayed in the game [against Harbour] and then fought back to get that draw.
"It was like we had finally kicked the season off and got some reward for the hard work. But I was happy that the players weren't sated with that, they weren't comfortable that that was enough. They wanted that win."
Putt said he hadn't needed to point out to his players that they were auditioning for Super 14 contracts.
"I haven't been using that as motivation but I take it as guaranteed. It is a fantastic opportunity for our guys to put their hands up."
