Auckland wary of capital rugby backlash

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MORE OF THE SAME: Alapati Leiua is congratulated by Wellington teammate Shaun Treeby after scoring a try against Manawatu.

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Auckland have already been stung by one backlash this season and coach Mark Anscombe is worried about the angry mood Wellington will bring with them to Eden Park on Saturday.

Both Auckland and Wellington have had mixed fortunes in the championship but four wins to go with two losses have kept them on the playoffs pace.

Auckland managed to get past Taranaki last weekend but Wellington were tipped over by neighbours Manawatu who recorded their first win of a campaign that is now entering its seventh round.

Anscombe says the Turbos have done Auckland no favours by upsetting the Lions and knows the blue and white will have to be on guard.

They were in a similar situation a couple of weeks ago when Canterbury came off a shock loss to Tasman to belt Auckland the following weekend.

Anscombe knows Wellington have the players to do something similar if Auckland aren't careful.

"Wellington have got some firepower and they can do some special things if you give them space," Anscombe warned.

"They have had some mixed results. They got out of jail against Northland but they didn't against Manawatu and that's a worry for us.

"We have already been on the receiving end of someone having a mixed season. Canterbury's season was muddling along, then they got tipped up by Tasman and they brought their best game of the year to the park against us.

"You could say Wellington is in a similar situation right now. They will be doing a lot of soul-searching this week. We are the old arch enemy so they are certainly going to be coming up here with all guns blazing."

While there appears to be a bit of a gap developing towards the tail of the points table, Anscombe senses the competition itself is tightening. Manawatu's win last Saturday backed up by Otago's maiden victory the following afternoon, tend to back up his theory.

It should make for an interesting second half to the campaign with side's battling to be at the right end of the ledger and part of next year's Premier League.

"You only have to look at three or four weeks ago when Northland was putting 70 points on Manawatu and here we have Manawatu tipping up Wellington.

"You can't take anything for granted. If you underestimate anyone, they will bite you."

- © Fairfax NZ News