England vs New Zealand Series

[Big Pete]

Game #1 England vs New Zealand
KC Stadium, Monday November 2 2015
Kick Off 2:00am

Game #2 England vs New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Saturday November 8 2015
Kick Off 11:00pm

Game #3 England vs New Zealand
DW Stadium, Saturday November 15 2015
Kick Off 10:00pm

 

[Big Pete]

England Squad

John Bateman
Joe Burgess
Tom Burgess
Mike Cooper
Leroy Cudjoe
Ben Currie
Liam Farrell
Brett Ferres
Luke Gale
James Graham
Ryan Hall
Zak Hardaker
Chris Hill
Josh Hodgson
Jermaine McGilvary
Sean O'Loughlin
James Roby
Matt Smith
Sam Tomkins
Kallum Watkins
Ben Westwood
Elliott Whitehead
Gareth Widdop
George Williams

 

[Big Pete]

New Zealand squad

Gerard Beale
Adam Blair (c)
Jesse Bromwich
Lewis Brown
Manaia Cherrington
Alex Glenn
Tohu Harris
Peta Hiku
Jordan Kahu
Shaun Kenny-Dowall
Tuimoala Lolohea
Isaac Liu
Issac Luke (c)
Ben Matulino
Sam Moa
Jason Nightingale
Kodi Nikorima
Kevin Proctor
Curtis Rona
Sio Siua Taukeiaho
Martin Taupau
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Dean Whare

 

[Big Pete]

New Zealand 34 (Tuivasa-Sheck 2, Nightingale, Kahu, Bromwich, Whare, Nikorima tries; Lolohea 2, Luke goals) defeated Leeds Rhinos 16 (Moon 2, Briscoe tries; Mcguire, Lilley goals)

Leeds Rhinos
1. Ashton Golding 2. Tom Briscoe 3. Jimmy Keinhorst 4. Joel Moon 5. Ash Handley 6. Danny McGuire 7. Jordan Lilley 8. Kyle Leuluai 9. Robbie Ward 11. Adrian Morley 14. Ali Lauititi 12. Josh Walters 13. Adam Cuthbertson
Interchange: 10. Mitch Garbutt 15. Anthony Mullally 16. Mitch Achurch 17. Jordan Baldwinson 18. Robbie Mulhern 19. Brad Singleton

New Zealand
1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2. Jason Nightingale 3. Jordan Kahu 4. Dean Whare 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6. Peta Hiku 7. Tuimoala Lolohea 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Issac Luke 10. Ben Matulino 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Tohu Harris 13. Martin Taupau
Interchange: 14. Kodi Nikorima 15. Adam Blair 16. Sam Moa 17. Sio Siua Taukeiaho 18. Alex Glenn 20. Lewis Brown

 

[Alec]

Can't see NZ doing much with their halves.

 

[Big Pete]

New Zealand are going to have to improve on their performance against Leeds.

Maybe it was rust, but they were poor in a few areas.

Offensively, they lacked creativity. The name of the game was earning quick play the balls, which is fine, but it can't be the only thing you can do, not against the better sides. They'll need more shape against England, with Lolohea and Hiku calling for more ball to try and put RTS one-on-one with a defender. While Lolohea is their only recognised half, they'll need him to play to his strengths which is his running game. If he can find a good balance between distributing the ball to Proctor, RTS and taking the line on, he could be a real weapon for the Kiwis.

Unfortunately I can't see him receiving too much support from Hiku who is basically playing the Josh Hoffman circa 2014 role. Filling the space because there's nobody else available. His instruction should be to give good early ball to Kahu and play a supporting role like all the good five eighths (Milford, Morgan, Maloney, Austin etc.) have.

If they can improve in those areas, they maybe able to apply enough scoreboard pressure to keep England at bay. The key will be getting a handy lead, then defending it. If you can zap the English playmakers of confidence and negate their best moves, they'll begin to panic and come up with questionable plays. To achieve this, NZ are really going to have to improve their ruck defence. Like a lot of fans, I enjoy watching Taupau carry the football, but if he's going to retain his place in the Kiwis side, he's going to have to improve his decence. Leeds targeted him and were able to instigate two clean line-breaks as a result. It's probably the one area that's preventing him from taking the place of Parker, Gallen, Mannering etc as one of the premier locks of the game. Taumalolo suffers from a similar issue, but he makes up for it with a better running-game. His foot-work is among the best of anybody in the game. In concert with Bromwich and Blair, it was easy to see why the Kiwis were so good in 2014.

 

[Super Freak]

Tomkins out for the series.

 

[Rally Towel]

Tomkins out for the series.

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

 

[Super Freak]

Centre Jordan Kahu, scrumhalf Tuimoala Lolohea, forward Sio Siua Takieaho and utility Kodi Nikorima are in line to earn their first test caps for the NZ Kiwis against England at Hull’s KC Stadium on Sunday.

The quartet debuted for their country against Leeds Rhinos last week and head coach Stephen Kearney has stuck with the group that defeated the champion English club for the opening encounter of the three-test series.

The only changes from that outing are positional, with co-captain Adam Blair and prop Sam Moa replacing Martin Taupau and Ben Matulino in a provisional starting line-up.

“The purpose of last week’s exercise was to give a run to some guys that hadn’t played in a while,” says Kearney.

“It was a matter of building that consistency, that’s why they’ve got the opportunity again this week.”

Kahu (groin) and Blair (calf) both left the Leeds encounter with injuries, but have recovered sufficiently to be included in the extended 19-man test squad. The starting line-up will be finalised shortly before kick-off.

Blair’s calf strain has probably caused the most concern through the past week and he has been carefully managed by the Kiwis medical team.

“That’s still an ongoing exercise and we’ll make a call on Adam as late as tomorrow,” says Kearney. “If he’s unable to take the field, we’ve got some pretty handy replacements.

“Hopefully, for Adam, he will get the chance to skipper the team with Issac Luke.”

The squad for Sunday’s opening test against England, to be shown live on SKY Sport 2 at 5.30am Monday NZ, is:

1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
2 Jason Nightingale
3 Jordan Kahu
4 Dean Whare
5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
6 Peta Hiku
7 Tuimoala Lolohea
8 Jesse Bromwich
9 Issac Luke
10 Sam Moa
11 Kevin Proctor
12 Tohu Harris
13 Adam Blair
14 Kodi Nikorima
15 Martin Taupau
16 Ben Matulino
17 Sio Siua Takeiaho
18 Alex Glenn
19 Lewis Brown

Newbies eye Test debuts against England | Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation

 

[Super Freak]

Lol England win the first game.

26-12.

NZ were clueless.

 

[Socnorb]

Hiku at half. Has to be Niko.

 

[Rally Towel]

Hiku at half. Has to be Niko.

Even then, that's a pretty questionable halves pairing.

Goes to show how integral Johnson and Foran are to the side. With them, they would have rolled the Poms. Makeshift pairing at best with Hiku and Lolohea, and they're all over the shop...

 

[Alec]

Might as well just play Hoffman in the halves, lol.

 

[Kimlo]

Anywhere I can catch the highlights for this game? On last check NRL.com didn't have them.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Bitly

 

[Big Pete]

The second and third tests will be televised LIVE on FoxSports.

 

[Kimlo]

The second and third tests will be televised LIVE on FoxSports.

Just as I cancel it haha.

Shortly after the grand final I called and cancelled telling them I'm only subscribed for Rugby League. Just making sure they know why they're getting my money. Well I'm not totally cancelled, just on the base $25 package until I'm off contract again.

 

[Unbreakable]

Just as I cancel it haha.

Shortly after the grand final I called and cancelled telling them I'm only subscribed for Rugby League. Just making sure they know why they're getting my money. Well I'm not totally cancelled, just on the base $25 package until I'm off contract again.

I was considering doing the same thing.. how are you planning on watching the league come next year? I'm not sure if it's possible but I wish I could just completely cancel my Foxtel sub during the Rugby League off-season, because the only reason I have Foxtel is for the league and league shows like Matty Johns etc.