Ward enjoying his break into the NPC

By WYNNE GRAY

Auckland fullback Brent Ward is not the bloke to be talking about getting breaks in rugby.

His rise to the senior side for the NPC and Saturday's final against Waikato in Hamilton has come after a strong apprenticeship.

"He is a case of someone showing you don't have to come through the system," coach Wayne Pivac conceded. "He carries a message for all club players that the chance is there for them too."

Ward has also returned after a wretched time last year when he broke his right arm, came back and soon broke his right leg - injuries that cut his season to 70 minutes.

"It has been a rollercoaster time for me," Ward said yesterday.

"If anyone suggested I would have played for Auckland and then been in the final I would have accused them of being on drugs. It is unbelievable.

"The team have always had the sort of self-belief about it all but it has not had much of chance to sink in for me."

If the 23-year-old has bypassed the national age group sides and academies, he has made the most of his physique which is not massive at 87kg and 1.83m.

"He has good pace, he has good vision, he hits the line well," Pivac said.

Ward sat on the bench for three matches, including the round-robin defeat against Waikato, before starting at fullback against Otago when the backline shuffle came with Carlos Spencer returning to first five eighths.

He retained his place for the next game against Wellington, the semifinal against Canterbury and now the final.

Pivac has stayed with the combination he used against Canterbury, the only change is the possibility that Nick White might recover from his knee problem to be in the reserves.

"We are doing some fine-tuning along the way but the side which played Canterbury showed they were the best team and they deserved to start," he said.

That meant Ward emailing his supervisor at his part-time job selling luggage at a Botany Downs shopping centre, explaining he would be unavailable for his shift this Sunday.

No matter the result of the Hamilton final he intends celebrating with his teammates, many of them like Daniel Braid, James Christian, Angus MacDonald and Iliesa Tanivula also play for the same University club. "It has been a great help having those guys there, who know what has been happening and can give you some help," Ward said.

After his rugby rush late in the NPC, Ward acknowledges he has struggled to concentrate on his bachelor of business studies at AUT.

He copped his first fail mark in a recent paper and is a little fearful of his exams in a fortnight.

But Pivac has given the fullback a highly commended and a strong pass mark in his debut NPC year.

Auckland went through their work steadily yesterday, trying to stay as low key and relaxed as they did at a similar stage in their preparations before the semifinal.

Auckland: Brent Ward, Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina, Sam Tuitupou, Ben Atiga, Carlos Spencer, Steve Devine, Xavier Rush (capt), Daniel Braid, Justin Collins, Ali Williams, Bradley Mika, Kees Meeuws, Keven Mealamu, Scott Palmer. Reserves: James Christian, John Afoa/Nick White, Bryce Williams, Angus MacDonald, David Gibson, Lee Stensness, Iliesa Tanivula.