But that does not mean Otago should wave the white flag at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday. Recent history shows the blue and golds have a decent chance against the men from the city of sails.
The All Blacks announced yesterday the bulk of players picked in the squad on Sunday would play for their provinces in the opening round of the Mitre 10 Cup this weekend.
That means Auckland will be able to name seven players in its squad who are part of the All Black squad.
Prop and new cap Alex Hodgman, prop Ofa Tuungafasi, lock Patrick Tuipulotu, loose forwards Akira Ioane and Hoskins Sotutu, and outside backs Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke have all been released to be able to play for Auckland.
In contrast, Otago did not have any players named in the All Black squad so will have a full squad to pick from.
Althrough Auckland will have plenty of players to pick from — having a total of 18 Super Rugby players in its team — that is no guarantee of success as Otago has a good recent record against Auckland.
In the 2018 season, when Auckland won the title, its only loss was to Otago, the blue and golds causing a huge upset when winning 31-26 at Eden Park, Matt Faddes scoring a hat-trick.
In 2017, Otago put on a stunning defensive effort to beat Auckland 34-26 with Otago taking every opportunity which came along on attack.
The two sides did not meet last season.
Of the All Blacks named on Sunday, new All Black lock Quinten Strange and hooker Dane Coles are still recovering from injuries and are unavailable to play this weekend, while three others, Joe Moody, Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett, will be assessed by medical staff this week before a decision is made on whether or not they can play .
Centre Brayden Ennor will not play for Canterbury after he suffered a knee injury in the North-South game.
It is unclear how long the All Blacks will be available for their provinces.
An announcement on the All Black schedule is expected some time this week.
Hawke's Bay will have halfback Brad Weber available for Sunday afternoon’s game against Southland in Invercargill.