Kiwis now tuned-up for world cup assault
November 2nd 2008 07:12
New Zealand may have finally struck a balance in their playmaking capabilities that could possibly derail Australia’s hopes for a tenth world cup crown.
They did what they needed to do against Papua New Guinea, but in the process, the Kiwis found some answers to their point scoring woes against the Kangaroos in recent seasons.
The inclusion of Issac Luke was not a masterstroke from Stephen Kearney. He should have played him last Sunday against the Kangaroos at the SFS.
Although common sense did not prevail for the Kiwis in their first round loss, it finally reared its head against the Kumals, who themselves were coming off a great showing against title fancy England.
The end result was an expected win for the Kiwis, but the matter in which they played, particularly up the middle of the park in the second half, suggests there are promising signs ahead for New Zealand.
Against the Kumals, no one could blame the Kiwis for shifting wide early, with Vatuvei and co. all eager for a piece of the action after disappointing displays against the world champions.
Indeed Simon Mannering and Sam Perrett were the beneficiaries on most occasions, each scoring two tries to put the result beyond doubt for New Zealand.
Up until that moment, the Kiwis were making little effort to play through the middle of the Kumals.
Although this avoidance did not hurt New Zealand in terms of the result, it will come back to bite them against the better nations.
However, things changed in the second half for the Kiwis.
Benji Marshall was rested for the entirety of the match due to a hamstring complaint, which in turn allowed New Zealand to employ a more dynamic approach up the middle of the ruck.
When finally given his chance, Issac Luke entered the fold at hooker, with Nathan Fien going to halfback and Leuluai shifting to five-eighth.
All these positional changes allowed the Kiwis to play with more depth and direction, better than their sombre effort against the Kangaroos last week.
Luke in particular brings an aura of go forward that Fien cannot match at dummy half. His tenacity to play straight has yielded great success for the Rabbitohs and it has also yielded great results for the Kiwis on both occasions he has played for them.
That does not mean Fien was wasted for the entirety of the game. His involvement with the Kiwis rose to a new level when he was cast with the majority of the playmaking duties.
Indeed Fien at halfback showed a lot more composure and skill than Thomas Leuluai. His passing game was far more direct, with his inside balls always providing the Kiwis with great go forward.
Although Leuluai’s involvement in this world cup has been below par to say the least, he also showed promise for Stephen Kearney against New Guinea, where he played the majority of the second half as a utility hooker.
Indeed this experiment yielded success for Leuluai’s confidence, as he constantly made good yardage off the back of great runs from Adam Blair and Nathan Cayless.
One may look back on this result by the Kiwis and think it will make little difference to Australia’s dominance in league.
But their performance against the Kumals may be the ideal tine-up that could provide New Zealand with the confidence and skill to go all the way.
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