League: McLennan expects Great Britain to hit hard

LONDON - Kiwis coach Brian McLennan expects his Great Britain counterpart Brian Noble to field his biggest, strongest side when the two countries clash in the third Tri Nations test at Loftus Road tomorrow night (Sunday morning NZT).

Neither coach will reveal their final 17s until an hour before kick-off but they have named 19-man squads, with the biggest surprise being the omission of Great Britain's only specialist stand-off, Bradford playmaker Iestyn Harris.

Harris' partner is due to deliver the couple's second child any day but it is not clear whether that is the reason for his omission, or whether Noble has simply plumped for the better defence of Leeds loose forward Kevin Sinfield in the crucial pivot role.

Sinfield, who was overlooked for last year's Tri-Nations despite leading Leeds to the Super League title, is comfortable playing at six and often fills the role for his club.

"We're concentrating on what we can do, but it looks like they are going to meet our firepower with some of their own," McLennan said.

"It could be a classic 'clash of the titans'. But we'll turn up prepared for any eventuality."

The Kiwis were primed and ready to perform, he said.

"Our captain's run (final training session) went really well. The boys got better as the session progressed. We are ready."

McLennan named Awen Guttenbeil in his 19-man squad and said the second rower could feature despite not playing in either of the two tests against Australia.

"Awen had a great game for New Zealand A against the Aussie selection at Telstra Stadium (Sydney).

"He was probably the best player on the field and booked himself a place on the touring party with that performance.

"He provides a tremendous work rate in the middle of the field, so he is an option."

A shocking 10-minute period at start of the second half cost the Kiwis victory against the Kangaroos at Auckland's Ericsson Stadium and a similar flat spot was almost their undoing in the first test but McLennan insisted the problem had been fixed.

"We've addressed that this week. We need to come off breaks a bit better. We need to control play a bit better after tries or injuries.

"There probably hasn't been enough intensity there. But I don't think there will be a problem with that tomorrow. We will hit the ground running and everyone will come out with plenty of intensity after half time."

Great Britain will be expecting the Kiwis to pound away in the forwards but McLennan insists he isn't tempted to change his game plan for a more expansive approach.

"You've got to earn the right to throw it around. We'll have to win the ground first. I don't think we'll do anything too much different to what we did against Australia."

Squads:

NZ

B Webb (NZ Warriors); J Webster (Melbourne), P Whatuira (Wests Tigers), C Toopi (NZ Warriors), M Vatuvei (NZ Warriors), S Hape (Bradford); N Vagana (Cronulla), S Jones (NZ Warriors); P Rauhihi (North Queensland), M Tony (Hull), R Wiki (NZ Warriors, capt), D Kidwell (Melbourne), D Solomona (Wakefield), L Anderson (NZ Warriors), A Lauiti iti (Leeds), R Asotasi (Canterbury), A Guttenbeil (NZ Warriors), I Palea'aesina (NZ Warriors), F Pritchard (Penrith).

GB

P Wellens (St Helens); B Carney (Wigan), M Gleeson (Warrington), K Senior (Leeds), C Walker (Leeds), L Pryce (Bradford); K Sinfield (Leeds), P Deacon (Bradford), R Burrow (Leeds); A Morley (Sydney Roosters), K Cunningham (St Helens), M Higham (St Helens), S Fielden (Bradford), N Fozzard (St Helens), J Thackray (Hull), P Johnson (Bradford), J Peacock (Bradford, capt), L Gilmour (St Helens), G Ellis (Leeds).

- NZPA