New Zealand DJ Edwards Alan Izett Kovana Solosolo Jason Denton Heath Davis JD Hurricane Dexter Astele Samuel Yates Sam Bakkum Dan Larkinson Matt Dorn Gareth Weaver John Heads Lucas Schaw Regan Hutchinson Joshua Ritchie James Torres Mike Martyn Simon Humble Matt Scoble PM Jackson Geoff Smith England Eddie Morris Okoudou Gbagbo Jonny Ridd Sam Verigotta John McGrath Zinzan Brumby Jake Howe Marcuss Deane Ben Hornby Ed Ames Chris Warrington Sam Graham Bobrad Smith Jordan Logan Bobby Blunder Substitutes 16. David Dafter 17. Yeeb! 18. Lee Sweetman 19. Matthew Mitchell 20. Oscar Wood 21. Michael Edwards 22. Alex Mediocre
Yeah with Eds playing we will be lucky to still be in touch at half time. Hopefully he pulls a hammy in warm ups. Still anything can happen. Fire up Black.
New Zealand insane value there. England ridiculously over-priced considering the BaaBaas were one kick away from the final.
Preview This one is all set up to be a cracker. Both round robin games contested between these two teams were thrillers. Firstly, New Zealand were defeated at home 17 - 22 thanks to the boot of Ed Ames and good performances from hooker Eddie Morris and utility Jake Howe. In the return fixture, England were beaten by New Zealand 27 - 28, despite a hat trick from Bobby Blunder. The shortcoming for England in this game was the injury forced absence of Ed Ames - England missing 5 out of 6 place kicks as they scored 4 tries to New Zealand's 3. The final has New Zealand with home advantage, but with key pivot Ed Ames returning for England, surely England regain the advantage. Now, comparing both teams there is a relatively mixed bag on display. In the front row, New Zealand have been suffering from regular props - Joshua Ritchie and Cattwat Smith being out of form and they've both been dropped. In comes Samoa born Kovana Solosolo and his propping partner will be DJ Edwards - more at home in the back row than the front. This pairing is a real punt for New Zealand selector Haydos Bots who has opted to back form rather than longer term class. There was no doubts, however, over who would take the rake spot as veteran Alan Izett retains his spot. They face the set of Morris - Gbagbo - Ridd who should best their opposite set. In the 2nd row, England will be missing the injured Bruce Force, but can still boast the experienced Sam Verigotta alongside the workaday John McGrath. Here it is advantage New Zealand as star lock forward Heath Davis is in exceptional form and can boast 4 POTS points against this very opposition. He will be scrumming down with a familiar partner in the form of Jason Denton who played with Davis at the Spartans in Season 3. The back row should be advantage England, but for some reason Dexter Astele tosses away his average club form when he dons the black jersey. His back row partners JD Hurricane and Samuel Yates are decent enough, but should in theory be outclassed by the English combo of Howe - Deane - Brumby. The England team will certainly miss the injured Geraint Martyn as the luxury of being able to bring Brumby off the bench for a bruising final 20 has been stolen away from them. Don't expect fireworks from the mediocre Lee Sweetman, Martyn's replacement. In the pivots, New Zealand again rely on the rookie Dan Larkinson to face down much more experienced opposition. Larkinson has been serviceable for the New Zealanders, but I'm sure they would prefer a classier option here than either Larkinson or the tiring Matthew Scoble. New Zealand have a marginally better half back option than England - as Sam Bakkum looks to take down Ben Hornby, but Ed Ames massively outclasses either New Zealand first-five option. In the backs, it's just about advantage to New Zealand. They have some incredible attacking verve in Lucas Schaw, Gareth Weaver, John Heads, Regan Hutchinson and, to a lesser extent Matt Dorn. They also have a quality option to call off the bench in the form of Geoff Smith. Don't get me wrong here, the England team have quality options of their own to call on - especially Bobby Blunder; who New Zealand will still fear after his hat trick in their last meeting. Chris Warrington is on the improve, but Jordan Logan is out of form, and Sam Graham's creaking frame is unlikely to generate many thrills for the red rose fans. So - adding it all up, what is the prognosis. Well, both teams here can score tries from out of nothing. There's plenty of attacking prowess which is likely to take the field in a Seasonal Rugby test series, so expect plenty of tries. Wet weather would suit the England team more as more scrums means more opportunity to put pressure on the New Zealand front row. In the dry and in open play, the bookmakers may disagree - but this one is a 50/50 call. Key Players Dan Larkinson: Softly put, we know what the stars of the New Zealand team are capable of - you know what Davis or Schaw bring to the party - but Larkinson is the risk. Play needs to revolve around him and seasoned RRC watchers will know he's highly susceptible to kicking errors. So far, he's managed to avoid a vast volume of howlers for New Zealand, but if he reverts to RRC type, then the New Zealand team will give too much ball away and they'll lose. Bobby Blunder: Will the fear factor remaining from his three-try burst in the last meeting still haunt the New Zealand team here? One of the New Zealand forwards will want to hit Blunder hard and hit him early in the game. New Zealand need to make sure Blunder is aware that their defence does exist and it's taking him seriously. Can Blunder exploit the tackling turnstyle that is Lucas Schaw's defensive technique? If so, there's only one winner here. Verdict: Bet on the unders here. Neither team is going to win by a large margin. Given the strength in the pivots, I'm picking England by under 7. New Zealand 18 - 21 England The National Anthems will be coming soon, and then join us for the haka and kick off shortly after. Play is scheduled to start in a little over half an hour.
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