League: Wiki focused on victory, not record

Skipper Ruben Wiki will leave the statistics behind him when he leads the Kiwis in the second match of the Tri-Nations series on Friday night.

The return encounter against Australia in Auckland will be Wiki's 46th test, equalling a world record held by five others, including former New Zealand captain Gary Freeman.

"Everyone keeps reminding me about it, but I'm not really worried about the stat," Wiki said yesterday.

"I have a job to do and that's what I'm more worried about."

Apart from Freeman, others to share the record are Australian Mal Meninga, Frenchman Gilbert Benausse, and Britons Garry Schofield and Mick Sullivan.

"There's a lot of legends there and it's just great to be close to those guys," Wiki said.

"But it's just another game and I just want to do well for my country."

If Wiki comes off Ericsson Stadium unscathed, he will be on target to set a new mark when New Zealand face Great Britain in London the following weekend.

Wiki, 32, made his test debut in Papua New Guinea in 1994.

In the Tri-Nations opener at Telstra Stadium last weekend, he had a key role in the Kiwis' 38-28 upset of the Kangaroos, a result that ended a 46-year drought for New Zealand in Sydney.

He led from the front, compiling a game-high 181 metres with the ball in hand.

He said the Kiwis were bracing for an Australian backlash and holding the Kangaroos over the opening quarter would be vital.

"We have to get into the arm wrestle with the Aussie boys," he said.

"They're going to be fired up. No doubt in the first 20 there are going to be a lot of fireworks. Hopefully we'll hang in there and weather the storm and come out the other end."

The Kiwi selectors have made four changes, three of them forced.

Centre Shontayne Hape and hooker Motu Tony have been called into the starting 13, while second rower Tony Puletua and uncapped Iafeta Palea'asina come on to the bench.

Hape and Tony replace the injured Clinton Toopi and Lance Hohaia, while Palea'asina was included for Nathan Cayless, who has stayed on in Sydney to be at the birth of his first child.

Puletua gets his chance at the expense of Frank Pritchard, after playing the full 80 minutes in New Zealand A win over a Kangaroo Invitational 13 in the test curtain raiser last Saturday.

Wiki was confident the changes in personnel would not put the Kiwis off their stride.

"Tony Puletua has been there before, Afeka [Palea'aesina's] job is to go forward and he's going to be hard to handle, and Motu Tony around the ruck is going to be dangerous," he said.

"It fits our structure and I don't think it will faze us one bit."

Meanwhile, Wiki, who helped to convince Stacey Jones to play in the two matches against Australia, declined to drawn on whether the halfback should stay on for the rest of the tournament.

Jones answered a call from coach Brian McClennan to come out of international retirement to make his first test appearance for more than two years last weekend.

However, the two fixtures against Great Britain in England over the coming month clash with his commitments with his new club, Les Catalans in France, and the impending birth of his third child, due next month.

"We'll concentrate on Friday night and we'll see what happens after that," Wiki said.

"Stacey Jones coming back to Ericsson Stadium in a black-and-white jersey is a bonus in itself."

- NZPA