England v New Zealand ** news & injury thread **

[Usain Bolt]

I'm waiting to be called up

 

[dogz08]

You've got no halfbacks though..

What are the kiwis realistic options???

6. Dan Carter
7. Aaron Smith

 

[roughyedspud]

Lol

 

[shiznit]

Id say young Nikorima from the Broncos paired up with Tui Lolohea from the Warriors.

Young Martin from the Panthers NYC is another kid they can bring along.

I have no idea why they couldn't pick Benji... He would have been a great mentor for them...

 

[roughyedspud]

nikorima & lolohea......and a kid from the under 20's....wow..you really are f**ked

 

[Warrior@Heart]

I'd go with maybe someone like Kahu or Hiku at 6 and than maybe choose one of either Nikorima & Lolohea (Probably Lolohea) at 7 and the other at utility. I'm leaning towards Nikorima because he's at least had a year of front line defence.

 

[shiznit]

nikorima & lolohea......and a kid from the under 20's....wow..you really are f**ked

Sounds like that's Kearney's plan...

If the Poms win... No one will care as this is a 'C' team...

If the Kiwis get close... England will be once again embarrassed on the international stage.

It's a win-win situation for Kearney....

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Corey Norman might be an option?

 

[roughyedspud]

Sounds like that's Kearney's plan...

If the Poms win... No one will care as this is a 'C' team...

If the Kiwis get close... England will be once again embarrassed on the international stage.

It's a win-win situation for Kearney....

'C' team now is it???

 

[hutch]

Ridiculous that benji is not being taken. You should be forced to pick your best team for every test series.

 

[Burns]

Ridiculous that benji is not being taken. You should be forced to pick your best team for every test series.

Benji is out anyway, having surgery.

 

[shiznit]

'C' team now is it???

What do you think it is??

Is it harsh to call it a C team??

It certainly isn't the top team... A fair bit short of that if we're being honest...

 

[Matua]

Benji is out anyway, having surgery.

Not really the point as he wouldn't have been selected over Nikorima, Lolohea, Martin or my grandmother anyway.

Are we going to have any players left?

Maybe they can rope in SBW for a few matches. ;-)

 

[roughyedspud]

What do you think it is??

Is it harsh to call it a C team??

It certainly isn't the top team... A fair bit short of that if we're being honest...

You've already set your stall out...england hammer you its cos its your C team...nz get close we're shit

We can't win...lol...in 2007 we won the series by 6 points in the 1st & 3rd tests..and the 2nd test 44-0...yet the bulk of that kiwi team won the world cup a year later..lol

Its not our fault you are sending over a weakend team...nor is it our fault that when you lose 3-0 you'll lose that number 1 ranking..only yourselfs to blame.

 

[Burns]

As long as its three good games of international league, I think we all win guys.

 

[roughyedspud]

I think the kiwis won't get within 16-20pts of us to be honest

 

[shiznit]

You've already set your stall out...england hammer you its cos its your C team...nz get close we're shit

We can't win...lol...in 2007 we won the series by 6 points in the 1st & 3rd tests..and the 2nd test 44-0...yet the bulk of that kiwi team won the world cup a year later..lol

Its not our fault you are sending over a weakend team...nor is it our fault that when you lose 3-0 you'll lose that number 1 ranking..only yourselfs to blame.

I don't really care what happens... I just hope whoever they pick represent's the Kiwi jersey with pride... If they aren't good enough to win then so be it...

The number 1 ranking means nothing... All we care about is beating Australia... They are our rivals to be the best in the world...

England can whoop us 3-0... But no one will consider them the best because they haven't won a World Cup/4 Nations in over 30 years.

Sadly it looks like the Kiwis are using this English tour to build for the bigger ANZAC Test next year...

 

[Sinman]

I think for now this is going to be a part of having internationals played.. When no internationals are played because too many players might have surgery we scream out that if players don't want to play for their country then pick players who do.. When Internationals are put on against the NRL clubs wishes and players pull out we wonder if the game should be played at all.. I say.. put lots of games on and pick the guys who put their hands up!! The NZ squad is still very strong except for in the halves.. but Kearney is also obviously keen to blood some youngsters so this will actually be really good for development... Not as many players as we think have pulled out and certainly not that many more then in previous seasons.. I can't wait.. desperately hoping something gets worked out with TV soon and believe that Australia should have toured the pacific Islands this year with whoever was willing to put their hands up and play..

 

[roughyedspud]

I don't really care what happens... I just hope whoever they pick represent's the Kiwi jersey with pride... If they aren't good enough to win then so be it...

The number 1 ranking means nothing... All we care about is beating Australia... They are our rivals to be the best in the world...

England can whoop us 3-0... But no one will consider them the best because they haven't won a World Cup/4 Nations in over 30 years.
.

im not saying we'll be the best when we beat you,we'll still be 3rd in the rankings ..but how can you be the best in the world if you get whooped 3-0 by the 3rd ranked team!!

even when we both have our strongest teams out its still a 50/50 contest..2 points have seperated us in the last 2 tests...and that semi final win was the first time you've beaten us at home in 7-8 years..

and if all you care about is beating australia...then they'll laugh at you for losing to us...simple lol

 

[Cold Roses]

The Squad gets named tomorrow, so I suppose we'll get a clearer indication then of what Kearney is planning.

Despite everyone's misgivings, taking the young halves instead of Benji is probably the best thing we could be doing at the moment.

The World Cup is only 2 years away, and what do we do then if Johnson and Foran fall in a heap 2 months out from the start of it?

Having Nikorima, Martin and Lolohea get the experience from a full tour will be invaluable to us down the road for our depth.

Losing a three test series against England to keep the bigger picture in mind isn't the worst thing that could happen.

And let's be honest, Kearney will have options up his sleeve. If things go wrong in the first test with a young halves pairing, I wouldn't be surprised to see RTS slot in there for the second with Hiku at fullback.