Blue and white venture into the Lions den

Image Copyright: Photosport NZ

 

  • Auckland take on Wellington away this Friday
  • A number of new faces amongst the 24 selected
  • Official squad to be named on Sunday 12 August

 

Auckland will take on newly promoted Wellington for their first official pre-season fixture. There are a number of players rewarded for their strong club form throughout 2018 and with the club season for most players having finished in the last fortnight, none will be short of a run.

There are a number of run-outs for the first time as a part of the fully fledged Mitre 10 Cup side for several players. Jarred Adams, Mike Sosene, Evan Olmstead, AJ Lam, Nikolai Foliaki, Hawaii Ahokovi and Jacob Umaga will be in the run-on side and given the first opportunity to impress against a Wellington side that will be more than willing to make a statement early.

Of note on the bench is the promotion of New Zealand Under 20 representative Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa fresh off a commanding performance in the Gallaher Shield Final last weekend. All Blacks Sevens representative, Salesi Rayasi, will also look to add extra spark and firepower when coming on.

It’s a home coming of sort for Assistant Coach Filo Tiatia having played much of his rugby in the Wellington region alongside Head Coach Alama Ieremia. Tiatia was excited at the prospect of seeing players rewarded for their club performances throughout 2018.

“This is the first time we’ve actually come together and we have got some new players who have been rewarded based on their club performances. What I’m looking for is cohesion as a forward pack, and also, the opportunity for them to show their skill sets.”

Assistant Coach Tai Lavea has been working specifically with the backline around their tactical kicking game and ensuring it’s another string in the bow for the players to utilise when needed.

“We’ve done a lot of tactical work inside our exit zone, so we’re looking for some real purpose around our kicking game and it’ll be really exciting to see what we’ve worked on being put into place come Friday”

With the start of the season just around the corner and the first game of the campaign on the 18th August against Counties Manukau, there’s plenty on the line for the players against Wellington come Friday.

 

Auckland line-up:

  1. Jarred Adams
  2. Lief Schwencke
  3. Marco Fepulea’i
  4. Jamie Lane
  5. Jack Whetton
  6. Evan Olmstead
  7. Onosa’i Auva’a
  8. Hoskins Sotutu
  9. Leon Fukofuka
  10. Harry Plummer
  11. AJ Lam
  12. Nikolai Foliaki
  13. Tumua Manu
  14. Hawaii Ahokovi
  15. Jacob Umaga

 

  1. Penisoni Fineanganofo
  2. Ezekiel Lindenmuth
  3. Taniela Koroi
  4. Faatiga Lemalu
  5. Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa
  6. Adrian Choat
  7. Desma Liaina
  8. George Taina
  9. Salesi Rayasi

 

See full Mitre 10 Cup draw HERE: http://bit.ly/2O0Hfdf

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