The Auckland Storm will open the Sunday Double Header at Eden Park against Counties Manukau Heat for the Te Toki Mareikura Trophy.

Head Coach, Richie Walker has made numerous changes to the forward pack that faced Northland last week at Semenoff Stadium. Aldora Itunu, Maia Roos and Shannon Muru all make their way back into the Starting XV.

The strong combinations in the backline remain unchanged with only Marist Halfback, Luisa Togotogorua given the start in the nine jersey.

Ponsonby lock, Eloise Blackwell will run out for her 60^th appearance in the Blue and White Hoops. A week after Aleisha-Pearl Nelson celebrated her 80^th cap for the team.

Both teams remain undefeated in the Farah Palmer Cup. Their last meeting was in Week 6 of the 2019 competition, with the Auckland Storm coming out victorious 38-31.

Kick off is at 2:05pm at Eden Park and will be the first of two games with the Auckland Mitre 10 Cup side facing Wellington at 4:35pm. Although there are no GA tickets for sale, Auckland Rugby and Eden Park are excited to welcome pods of 100 into the stadium. As an event facility, Eden Park can operate under Alert Level 2.5 with a limited audience, whilst observing strict COVID-19 Protocols.

Auckland Storm V Counties Manukau Heat

1 Aldora Itunu (Ponsonby)

2 Cristo Tofa (Ponsonby)

3 Aleisha-Pearl Nelson (College Rifles)

4 Eloise Blackwell © (Ponsonby)

5 Maia Roos (College Rifles)

6 Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (College Rifles)

7 Shannon Muru (Ponsonby)

8 Charmaine McMenamin (Ponsonby)

9 Luisa Togotogorua (Marist)

10 Ruahei Demant (College Rifles)

11 Princess Elliot (Ponsonby)

12 Sylvia Brunt (Ponsonby)

13 Theresa Fitzpatrick (Ponsonby)

14 Natahlia Moors (Ponsonby)

15 Patricia Maliepo (Marist)

16 Saphire Abraham (College Rifles)

17 Chryss Viliko (Marist)

18 Shannon Leota (Ponsonby)

19 Ti Tauasosi (Marist)

20 Moana Cook (Ponsonby)

21 Grace Kukutai (Ponsonby)

22 Lydia Quedley-Turua