Preview: Waikato v North Harbour

Waikato will send a warning shot to teams ranked from second to fifth if they beat North Harbour in Hamilton on Thursday.

Waikato are nipping at the heels of the play-offs with four rounds to play and will send a shudder through the upstart teams ranked from second to fifth if they beat North Harbour in Hamilton on Thursday.

After a shaky start to their Air NZ Cup campaign, the Mooloo men have rebounded at the right time, but can't afford another loss or will surely drop out of semi-final contention.

Waikato pipped Taranaki 15-14 in New Plymouth last week, a crucial result for the 2006 champions who have struggled for consistency and to break free from a mid-table jam.

North Harbour recorded their third win on the trot after beating Counties Manakau in a bottom-of-the-table grind at Albany. The hosts lost centre Andrew Mailei to the competition's first red card of 2009, for a spear tackle just 22min into the game, but battled on to claim their third win.

Mailei has been banned for two weeks for his dangerous tackle, forcing North Harbour coaches Craig Dowd and Jeff Wilson to reshuffle their line-up. Hayden Abercrombie has been promoted to start with Nafi Tuitavake coming onto the bench for the Round Ten match.

On the other end of the scale, Waikato have been buoyed by the return of All Blacks hooker Aled de Malmanche, scrum-half Brendon Leonard and fly-half Stephen Donald ahead of the clash.

Locks Kent Fife and Romana Graham will not play due to minor groin strains, so Jordan Smiler will cover lock on the bench, with specialist openside flanker Matt Blain named at number 19 to offer cover in the reserves.

“We are all about building on our performances and keeping momentum in this competition,” said Waikato coach Chris Gibbes.

“We stuck it out against a tough Taranaki side last Friday night, now it is time to return to our yard and put in a good performance against North Harbour.

“It is no secret that the boys enjoy playing at home and we are keen to reward our Mooloo faithful with a solid performance at the stadium this Thursday.

“North Harbour is a physical side, combined with strike power in the backs. We know they will be a challenge, but our boys are ready to step up and go forward in this competition.”

The teams:

Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Tim Mikkelson, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Dwayne Sweeney, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Liam Messam (c), 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Nathan White, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Hikairo Forbes.
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Latu Talakai, 18 Jordan Smiler, 19 Matt Blain, 20 David Bason, 21 Roimata Hansell-Pune, 22 Henry Speight.

North Harbour: 15 Jack McPhee, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Hayden Abercrombie, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Michael Harris, 9 Matt France, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Tom Chamberlain, 6 Anthony Boric (c), 5 Filo Paulo, 4 James King, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Michael Mayhew, 1 Michael Reid.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 James Afoa, 18 Chris Smith, 19 Scott Uren, 20 Nalu Tuigamala, 21 Ben Botica, 22 Nafi Tuitavake.

Date: Thursday, October 1
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:35 (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Vinny Munro