Lam shows faith for final
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:36
Auckland coach Pat Lam has kept faith with the same starting line-up for the first time this season for the Air New Zealand Cup final against Wellington at Eden Park on Saturday. Lam has gone for continuity for the title match, sticking with the same side that demolished Hawke's Bay 38-3 in last weekend's wet semi-final. However two changes, as expected, have been made to the bench, with All Blacks Keven Mealamu (hooker) and Isaia Toeava (utility back) taking the places of Chris Heard and Chris Mahony respectively. Mealamu's return is particularly comforting given the makeshift cover Auckland have had at hooker since losing Derren Witcombe to a career-ending neck injury in the opening round of the competition. Tom McCartney keeps out the World Cup hooker due to some outstanding performances in the Auckland number two jersey since he was drafted in from North Harbour in Witcombe's absence. Former All Blacks prop Saimone Taumoepeau has also largely been covering hooker in a dual role through the unbeaten campaign and Lam said he was just thankful that they hadn't encountered another major injury in this key area. Toeava's ability to handle any role from fly-half to full-back had made him a logical selection amongst the backline replacements. Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 David Smith, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Sam Tuitupou (c), 11 Benson Stanley, 10 Isa Nacewa, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Brad Mika, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Jay Williams, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Nick White, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Angus Macdonald, 20 Grayson Hart, 21 Lachie Munro, 22 Isaia Toeava Date: Saturday, 20 October Venue: Eden Park, Auckland Kick-off: 19:35 (08:35 BST, 07:35 GMT) Referee: Chris Pollock Touch judges: Keith Brown, Vinny Munro Television match official: Jonathon White Assessor: Glenn Wahlstrom, Keith Lawrence
