S4, Regional Tournament: New Zealand vs. Australian Wallaroos(vBookie)

New Zealand

1 Joshua Ritchie
2 Alan Izett
3 Volt Man
4 Jason Denton
5 Heath Davis
6 Cunt Morgan
7 Simon Humble*
8 Dexter Astele
9 Sam Bakkum
10 Peter Jackson
11 Matt Dorn
12 Gareth Weaver
13 John Heads
14 Geoff Smith
15 Regan Hutchinson

16 Chris Smith
17 James Torres
18 Mike Martyn
19 Cr' Hurricane
20 Sam Somerset
21 Damien Taylor
22 Lucas Schaw

Australian Wallaroos

1. Wes Welker
2. Tom Delonge (c)
3. Dave Eggman
4. Jack Dempsey
5. Donald Boland
6. Ben Manera
7. League Lover
8. Brett Gemmell
9. Robert Cribb
10. Dion Alessi
11. Andrew James (c)
12. Stephen Cambridge
13. Paddy Orr
14. Ben Herd
15. Al Son

16. Benny Read
17. Shane Masters
18. Chocolate Man
19. Theo Miokovic
20. Aaron Hunt
21. Kelvin Fung
22. Ben Jacobs

 

NZ need to win this otherwise their tournament is over. A win for Australia guarantees them a place in the Final. Aus need to win this to have a hope of earning a home final etc. etc.

Some interesting selections from NZ on the wing. No space for Schaw or Taylor in the starting XV.

 

I'm right in saying that GB are booked for the final, right?

 

Yeah.

 

Yeah. I can see why you went for the changes. Escath in particular has had a torrid Regional tournament thus far.

 

This'll be tomorrow (would be tonight, but out at the cricket). Should be a cracker.

 

Match Preview

The New Zealanders are currently sitting at the bottom of the table and will need a bonus point win over Australia to give them any chance of getting through to the Final. And even then, they'll need to beat a rampant Great Britain side even if they can turn over the Australians.

How do the two sides match up?

Forwards

I think the Australians have a narrow edge on the Kiwi pack here. It's not that the NZ front row isn't good - more that the Australian front row is superb and their back up - even in the absence of Herr Burger - is solid too, so the Australians can rely on fresh legs up front. An interesting contest between Alan Izett and Tom Delonge too. Delonge hasn't been at his best in the Provincial series and a stand out performance from Izett could see Delonge's starting spot for Souths at risk; though it's unlikely.

The second row is the Kiwis battle to win. Denton, Davis and Torres are better by far than their opposition. Choco Man is a surprising sight on the bench, given Morgan Burridge's injury, but that shows the lack of depth that the Australians have in the 2nd row.

The back row contest will be interesting. Dexter Astele hasn't embarrassed in his outings for NZ so far and has clearly relished playing in the black jersey. However, Brett Gemmell should have his measure. On the flanks, Manera is the form player. However, Simon Humble was probably one of the top back rowers of Season 3, and this should be a good contest between the two. Morgan should enjoy a keen contest against League Lover.

Backs

In the pivots, a revitalised Sam Bakkum has to take apart the game of probably this season's best player - Rob Cribb. Another intriguing battle - one which given his form you'd expect Cribb to win. However, he tends to save his best for the light blue of NSW rather than the garish green and gold of Australia.

The backs present most of the talking points of the match. Dion Alessi is again preferred to Aaron Hunt; perhaps not surprising after his tries last time out.

The Kiwi selection has come under some scrutiny after tried-and-tested selections Lucas Schaw and Damien Taylor have been dumped to the bench after a number of flaky defensive efforts. Matt Dorn takes to the wing and is accompanied by rival Geoff Smith. This sees a Centre position freed up for Crabs centre, John Heads.

It's fair to say this is a new look back line for the Kiwis - plus they have the power of Lucas Schaw and Damien Taylor to call on in the final minutes if the game is close. That pair with fresh legs could be critical if the Kiwis desperately need points in the closing minutes.

This is a very tough match to call, but I'm picking the Kiwis by less than 7.