Ruben Wiki: Kiwis score points for hair, flair and tries

11.00am - COMMENT

It's tough for any test team coming together to get the combinations and timing right, but even harder for the Kiwis with our boys based in three different countries and the English-based players on the other side of the world.

So this week at training we worked on our combinations and timing around the ruck area on defence and attack. This involves doing marker drills and working three players on two and getting the ball through many hands.

It's been pretty windy over here, a lot like Windy Wellington, so we've also shortened-up a bit because the ball is just floating through the air and going everywhere. This is something we're bearing in mind for the second test against the Kangaroos this morning.

We've had some blue sky and it hasn't been too cold as yet but we've been staying inside a lot and the ping pong table has been getting a bit of a work out. It gives us a chance to catch up.

There's a good mix with the experience of the older players and exuberance of the younger blokes, but the best thing is none of the boys are shy in coming forward with their ideas and input. It's just been typical Kiwis getting together and having a laugh.

The laughter is important because there's a time to switch off and a time to switch on. We've been having a bit of fun during the week visiting the House of Lords and Big Ben and learning a bit of the history. A few of the boys got a kick out of hearing about things like Henry VIII and how he chopped off the heads of his wives.

But the intensity picked up from Friday and our thoughts became focused on today's test.

After losing our tough Penrith boys, Tony Puletua and Joe Galuvao, to the surgeon's knife we've brought a couple of the English-based Kiwis into the test side and will lose nothing in having Logan Swann in the forward pack.

It's been good catching up with Logan as we're old mates, as is Lesley Vainikolo, who comes in for Matt Utai, another who is going under the knife.

Lesley and Logan have had superb seasons over here and were in the Bradford Bulls side that lost the Super League Grand Final last weekend against Leeds. But they're not happy talking about that.

Lesley The Volcano is a superstar with the English fans and was the top try-scorer in the Super League with 39 tries over the season. He's cleaned up on the awards over here, being named the Player's Player of the Year and Best Hairstyle in the competition. Everyone is talking about him having a big one in London today.

There were five Kiwis in this Tri-Nations side who played in that Super League final and that has really helped our combinations gel. We're bearing in mind that the English game is pretty flair-oriented and the English crowds like to see a lot of tries, as opposed to the defence-oriented style of the NRL.

The Kiwis in the Super League are well liked by the English because they're the ones producing the flair and the tries _ but test footy is another game.

On Wednesday, the players who don't take part in today's test are joining with some of the Kangaroos for the Anzac side playing a Cumbria selection.

We're hoping an extra bus is being put on so we can all get along to watch the game. And like a lot of you, we're not sure where or who Cumbria is.

We get next weekend off, then return to camp to start preparing for the Brits, who we play on November 6.