4Nations | New Zealand v England | Forsyth Barr Stadium | Sat 8th Nov (8pm)

[morningstar]

http://m.nrl.com/official-four-nations-week-3-teams/tabid/10874/newsid/82872/default.aspx

New Zealand
1 Peta Hiku
2 Jason Nightingale
3 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
4 Dean Whare
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Kieran Foran
7 Shaun Johnson
8 Jesse Bromwich
9 Issac Luke
10 Adam Blair
11 Simon Mannering (c)
12 Kevin Proctor
13 Jason Taumalolo

Interchange
14 Thomas Leuluai
15 Greg Eastwood
16 Martin Taupau
17 Tohu Harris
18 Lewis Brown

Coach: Stephen Kearney

England
1 Sam Tomkins
2 Josh Charnley
3 Kallum Watkins
4 Dan Sarginson
5 Ryan Hall
6 Gareth Widdop
7 Matty Smith
8 George Burgess
9 Josh Hodgson
10 James Graham
11 Liam Farrell
12 Joel Tomkins
13 Sean O'Loughlin

Interchange
14 Daryl Clark
15 Brett Ferres
16 Tom Burgess
17 Chris Hill

Coach: Steve McNamara

 

[Burns]

Finally we will we the sequel from the World Cup Semi Final, what was surely one of the greatest games of rugby ever played. I'm hopeful that England can win and by a margin of 10+ to see them reach the final.

I wonder how New Zealand will approach the game? Go all out to likely versus Australia in the final, or potentially ease up to allow England a chance.

 

[roughyedspud]

can't wait to see who the refs are

 

[Pig Champion]

can't wait to see who the refs are

FFS spud, wake up and smell the roses or some sh*t, LOL.

I friggen hope you guys win, I got up at some ungodly time last year to watch you give it away at the death and then went to work.

I want you to to win but in some ways just for you to STFU.

 

[roughyedspud]

oi ive left the whole no try thing alone for the last few days,ive left it to others to debate...

i can't wait to see who the refs are because i want to know if the "best man for the job" rules is gonna be applied....or does it only get applied to aus-eng games!

 

[goodplayer]

england had a good lead . but blew it , yet again

 

[morningstar]

Australia v Samoa must be the most important match this weekend....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2819917/England-unchanged-crunch-clash.html

Super League's top referee Phil Bentham will be in charge of Saturday's game after getting the nod ahead of Australian Gerard Sutton.
Organisers caused a stir by ignoring neutrality with the appointment of Sutton for the Australia-England game and have maintained that policy with the selection of Bentham, who refereed the Grand Final at Old Trafford as well as the Australia-New Zealand game in Brisbane.
Sutton will take charge of his third match in as many weeks after being appointed for Australia's game against Samoa on Sunday and looks to be in pole position to referee the decider in Wellington, regardless of the finalists.
New Zealand's top referee Henry Perenara will be the video referee in Dunedin, with England's Ian Smith taking on the role for Sunday's game in Wollongong.

 

[Bovrick]

Australia v Samoa must be the most important match this weekend....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2819917/England-unchanged-crunch-clash.html

Super League's top referee Phil Bentham will be in charge of Saturday's game after getting the nod ahead of Australian Gerard Sutton.
Organisers caused a stir by ignoring neutrality with the appointment of Sutton for the Australia-England game and have maintained that policy with the selection of Bentham, who refereed the Grand Final at Old Trafford as well as the Australia-New Zealand game in Brisbane.
Sutton will take charge of his third match in as many weeks after being appointed for Australia's game against Samoa on Sunday and looks to be in pole position to referee the decider in Wellington, regardless of the finalists.
New Zealand's top referee Henry Perenara will be the video referee in Dunedin, with England's Ian Smith taking on the role for Sunday's game in Wollongong.

How can they claim that Sutton and Perenara were the best referees last week, but they aren't the best this week? :?

Irrespective, you can pick the same referees (therefore having the two 'best' this week) and swap their matches and have neutral referees. Why won't they do something so obvious after the outrage since the weekend.

Anyone going to feel any sympathy for NZ if Bentham appears to guide England to the final this week?

 

[roughyedspud]

bentham won't though...

 

[Bovrick]

bentham won't though...

I agree. But tbh whether he does or doesn't is irrelevant, it shouldn't be a question on the agenda.

 

[LeedsStorm]

I agree. But tbh whether he does or doesn't is irrelevant, it shouldn't be a question on the agenda.

What it is, is a f#cking dogs dinner. I'm deeply embarrassed for our sport.

 

[morningstar]

http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/league/322336/league-success-breeds-ticket-sales-success

It appears rugby league fever is starting to take hold in Dunedin.

The city will host its first international league game in 86 years when New Zealand plays England in a Four Nations match at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night.

The Kiwis upset Australia 30-12 in their opening game and then fought back to beat Samoa 14-12 on Sunday.

Those successes have had a positive spin-off, with Dunedin Venues marketing and communications manager Kim Barnes reporting increased
demand for tickets.

''It is looking good,'' she said.
''We have had some categories in some parts of the stadium sold out. It is all the wins by those Kiwis that has got everyone excited.
''NZRL [New Zealand Rugby League] are not giving out any numbers, but they are certainly pleased with how it is going.
"But even since the first match, and certainly since the weekend, the sales have been increasing every day.''

There are still tickets available in every stand.

There are no temporary seats so the capacity will be 22,266.

England, meanwhile, will be smarting from its 16-12 loss to Australia.
Winger Ryan Hall was denied a try in the final stages of the match when he claimed to have forced the ball with his fingertip.

 

[CC_Roosters]

How can they get something as simple as referee selection so wrong. This week im two crucial matches we have again got an australian refereeing australia and an englishman doing england!

Just smacks of stupidity. How hard would it be to have the kiwi ref do australia v samoa and sutton in the new zealand game. Are they ar
Fraid to pay for flights and hotels or something? The sooner control of the tournament is out of the hands of the ARL and co the better

Anyway really looking forward to the game, to hard to call at the moment but hopefully the winner goes onto destroy the blight on the game that is the kangaroos

 

[Nothern]

Are they serious about these referees? Embarrassing. I'm speechless. Do the Aussies who thought it ok last week still see it as ok this week? What a mess. I love League, why are these idiots trying to destroy its credibility?

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

Are they serious about these referees? Embarrassing. I'm speechless. Do the Aussies who thought it ok last week still see it as ok this week? What a mess. I love League, why are these idiots trying to destroy its credibility?

you do realise each of the three countries has one vote each (poor Samoans don't get a vote)?

 

[Joker's Wild]

Are they serious about these referees? Embarrassing. I'm speechless. Do the Aussies who thought it ok last week still see it as ok this week? What a mess. I love League, why are these idiots trying to destroy its credibility?

I have no issue with it

Referees are supposed to be impartial and its pretty insulting to them to suggest they wont be purely based on their nationality. Sure it might be better to have "neutral" refs, but in the end its pretty minor imo

 

[Rhyno]

Nz 13+

 

[roughyedspud]

british bookies give england 6pts start

 

[LeedsStorm]

Betfair offering 7-1 for an england win by >10 points.

Pretty strong underdogs to reach the final then..

 

[RoosTah]

Which channel is this being televised? can't find it anywhere.