League: Captaincy proudest moment of Rauhihi's career

3.45pm - By ROBERT LOWE

LEEDS - Paul Rauhihi today described being named as New Zealand captain as the proudest moment of his rugby league career.

Rauhihi, 31, will lead the Kiwis in their closing tri-nations match against Great Britain at Hull on Saturday.

The North Queensland frontrower was given the honour after tour skipper Ruben Wiki was ruled out with a fractured jaw suffered in the test win over France at Carcassonne last week.

"I never thought I would end up captaining my country when I started playing," he said.

"It's my proudest moment in rugby league, so I'm pretty happy."

Named the National Rugby League's prop of the year as the Cowboys made the playoffs for the first time this season, Rauhihi will be appearing in his 11th test when he runs on at KC Stadium.

He had a stint captaining the Cowboys this year when regular skipper Paul Bowman was injured.

"It probably helped my game and helped me to lift to another level," he said.

"I'm no stranger to that responsibility now, so hopefully I can respond like I did then."

Rauhihi, in the Kiwi starting 13 for the first time in the tournament after coming back from injury, described himself as someone who tried to lead from the front.

"I'm not a big talker," he said.

"I'm more someone who tries to lead by example. There are a lot of captains who operate the same way. If it works for them, I'm sure it will work for me."

The Wellingtonian missed the drawn Tri-Nations opener against Australia in Auckland a month ago because of a lingering calf injury.

But he has played in all four matches on tour so far, including for the Anzacs against Cumbria and in the French test.

With just a point from their three previous Tri-Nations outings, the Kiwis are out of contention for the final, which will be contested by Great Britain and Australia in Leeds on November 27.

Rauhihi believed the New Zealanders had got over the disappointment of their impending early exit and were focused on beating the Lions.

"We're over the fact that we can't make the final," he said.

"We know we have a test match this weekend and that's all that's important to us, winning that game."

After errors led to the Kiwis giving up halftime leads over both the Kangaroos and the Lions in their previous tests in London and Huddersfield, Rauhihi said cutting down mistakes would be a priority.

He couldn't explain why the New Zealanders' performance had dropped immediately after the interval on both occasions, but it was something they were aware of and would be prepared for.

"That's all that's let us down over the tournament -- two 10-minute periods where we didn't hold on to the ball and got punished for it," he said.

"We'll be looking to make sure we change that, because it will go a long way to bringing us a victory."

Although the match against Great Britain might be "dead" in terms of the tournament, Rauhihi said the Kiwis still wanted to make a point.

"Not only to ourselves, but also to the supporters back home," he said.

"They'll be feeling disappointed at how we've gone, so we'll be looking to repay them in some way."

- NZPA