Hockey: Archibald gets his opportunity

Ryan Archibald at last gets his chance to add to his 127 international matches for New Zealand in their opening match at the Champions Trophy in Lahore tonight.

Archibald has been named at inside-right for the tournament-opener against the Netherlands.

Struggling for a time last year with injury, Archibald played his last full international against Poland in Whangarei last December.

He later broke his leg in training and, apart from a brief appearance at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Madrid in March, has been sidelined.

"The enforced rest has been good for his body," New Zealand coach Kevin Towns said from Pakistan. "Obviously we are pleased to have a player of his ability back playing."

In a minor surprise, Towns will start without either of his drag-flick options David Kosoof and James Nation but both will see game time.

"Kosoof has taken over as our No 1 drag flicker now that Hayden Shaw is concentrating on cricket," Towns said. "But, as a striker, we can't expect him to play the entire 70 minutes."

Towns has opted for two goalkeepers with Paul Woolford (72 caps) starting and Kyle Pontifex (13) on the bench.

"I'm not prepared to risk going with only one keeper."

Towns has left Auckland midfielder Dharmesh Puna and North Harbour striker Lloyd Stephenson out of the 16-strong squad for the match against the tournament favourites.

"That is in no way a reflection on how they played in the warm-up game against China on Thursday," Towns said. "There were some who need to look at themselves. You can't relax for a minute in international hockey."

Against China, who are not playing in the Champions Trophy, Stephenson scored twice and Gareth Brooks once as New Zealand came back from 2-0.

It is a tough start for New Zealand, with a weekend double-header against the two most favoured teams. Their game against the Dutch tonight (6pm NZ time) is followed by tomorrow's clash with hosts Pakistan (11pm).

"To take two points from those two games would be huge," Towns said, "and a great start for us."

New Zealand

To play the Netherlands in Lahore, 6pm today.

Paul Woolford, Dion Gosling, Dean Couzins, Blair Hopping, Simon Towns (c), Wayne McIndoe, Ryan Archibald, Mitesh Patel, Gareth Brooks, Phil Burrows, Bevan Hari. Substitutes: Kyle Pontifex, Brad Shaw, James Nation, Darren Smith, David Kosoof.