By Rich Cowley, Date: 31/10/17 (Photo Credit NRLPhotos)
Venue: Christchurch Stadium, New Zealand
TV Kick-off time: Saturday 4th November 2017, 5pm NZDT
The people of Christchurch are going to be well entertained when the Scots run out against the Kiwis this Saturday evening.
The Kiwis are just starting to hit top gear and their 2nd half performance against Samoa was something special. At half time the Kiwis were ahead of Samoa by only 10 points (14 – 4). The 2nd half saw the Kiwis go on a try scoring spree running out 38 – 8 winners.
The Kiwis have made seven changes in this match with Te Maire Martin, Jason Nightingale, Peta Hiku, Dean Whare, Fonua-Blake, Kenny Bromwich, Elijah Taylor included in the starting seventeen. This game will see players looking to secure places in the run on squad as the Kiwis roll towards the playoffs. The Kiwis will be too powerful for the Bravehearts and it is gearing towards a long night for the visitors.
If the Kiwis win this match they will be one step closer to securing a position at the top of their Group. New Zealand will need to beat Tonga the following week to finish top of Pool B. A loss to the Kiwis will blow Pool B wide open.
Scotland did it tough last weekend against the might of Tonga. Tonga’s NRL line-up was way too strong for the Bravehearts who went down 46 – 4. The heat and humidity of Cairns didn’t help their cause.
The Bravehearts are going to need more than bagpipes for extra motivation when taking on New Zealand on home soil. The Scots might just find the extra motivation from their upset draw with New Zealand in the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. If they did the impossible then it is not out of the question that they could do the impossible this weekend. With Danny Brough in their side anything is possible.
If Scotland win this weekend they keep their RLWC campaign alive as the top three teams move through to the quarter-finals. If they lose the Bravehearts will unfortunately advance no further after the Pool rounds of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup conclude.
New Zealand 2017 RLWC Team:
1 Roger TUIVASA-SHECK
2 Jason NIGHTINGALE
3 Dean WHARE
4 Bradley TAKAIRANGI
5 Peta HIKU
6 Te Maire MARTIN
7 Shaun JOHNSON
8 Martin TAUPAU
9 Elijah TAYLOR
10 Jared WAEREA-HARGREAVES
11 Kenny BROMWICH
12 Joseph TAPINE
13 Adam BLAIR (c)
14 Nelson ASOFA-SOLOMONA
15 Russell PACKER
16 Addin FONUA-BLAKE
17 Danny LEVI
18 Thomas LEULIAI
19 Dallin WATENE ZELEZNIAK
20 Simon MANNERING
21 Jordan RAPANA
Scotland 2017 RLWC Team:
1 Alex WALKER
2 Lewis TIERNEY
3 Ben HELLEWELL
4 Lachlan STEIN
5 Matthew RUSSELL
6 Danny BROUGH (c)
7 Oscar THOMAS
8 Luke DOUGLAS
9 Danny ADDY
10 Ben KAVANAGH
11 Jarred ANDERSON
12 Dale FERGUSON
13 James BELL
14 Kane BENTLEY
15 Sam BROOKS
16 Brandan WILKINSON
17 Johnny WALKER
18 Andrew BENTLEY
19 Callum PHILLIPS
20 Shane TOAL
21 Frankie MARIANO
