League: It's do or die, Origin-style

By ROBERT LOWE


New Zealand coach Daniel Anderson is expecting a tough, tight State of Origin-style battle when the Kiwis take on Great Britain in their Tri-Nations league clash at Huddersfield tomorrow.

Victory for either side would make them firm favourites to join Australia in the final in Leeds on November 27. For the losers, the path to the playoff narrows considerably.

If Great Britain go down, they will have to win their last two round-robin matches, against Australia then New Zealand, to get through.

If the Kiwis are beaten, their fate is no longer in their own hands, and they will be hoping for a Kangaroo victory over the Lions the following weekend to keep their hopes alive.

Anderson said the closeness of the competition and the quality of the sides was encouraging safety-first tactics.

This was evident in Great Britain's 12-8 defeat by the Australians in Manchester, and in the Kiwis' own play, he said.

"I think the Great Britain team were pretty conservative last week.

"There was, I think, a genuine fear that they did not want to turn the ball over to the Australians."

Anderson said the Kiwis had the same attitude for three of their four halves of football so far in the tournament - during their 16-16 draw with Australia in Auckland, and in the first spell of the transtasman rematch in London.

New Zealand led 12-8 at the break at Loftus Rd, but mistakes cost them dearly after the interval as they fell to a 32-12 defeat.

"In the final half, we didn't have that fear and did turn the ball over and got punished," he said.

"It does remind me a little bit of the State of Origin, in that it's a mental wrestle as much as it's a physical wrestle.

"Teams don't want to give the ball to the opposition to give them an opportunity."

The Kiwis have made three changes to their starting side, one forced by Bradford's recall of winger Lesley Vainikolo for off-season surgery.

His berth has gone to clubmate Shontayne Hape, who will be playing his first test.

At centre, Clinton Toopi returns after a thumb operation in place of Paul Whatuira.


In the forwards, David Kidwell comes into a reshuffled pack and Nathan Cayless drops to the bench.

Also on the bench is Ali Lauitiiti, who joined the New Zealand tour party this week.

Great Britain coach Brian Noble has named a 19-man squad, and is not expected to confirm his 17 until match day.

The Lions' preparations have been disrupted by a virus within their camp, which prevented four of their players, including skipper Andy Farrell, training this week.

Great Britain turned in a top performance in almost holding Australia to a draw last weekend, and Noble was sure his side could move up a step against the Kiwis.

"You could see our skills, our touch on the kicks and our fluency have been the better for it."

Noble believed that the Kiwis might try to chance their arm, despite Anderson's comments.

"They're going to look to play a bit of footie as well."

- NZPA