www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15868

www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=15868

Shaun Briscoe
Peter Fox
Chris Bridge
Michael Shenton
Ryan Hall
Sam Tomkins
Kyle Eastmond
Adrian Morley
James Roby
James Graham
Jamie Peacock
Gareth Ellis
Kevin Sinfield

Bench:
Sam Burgess
Eorl Crabtree
Ben Westwood
Jon Wilkin

no mcguire, and no smith. no briscoe.

Huge call playing Kyle at 7. Lets hope he handles it well, he's not even a proven 7 at SL level yet so it shows how desperate Smith is. I'm excited to see him and Tomkins have a real go from the halves though, should be a cracker.

Fortune favours the brave, and I think this is a positive move for us.
Eastmond, despite what people say about his inexperience, is a much better at 7 than in any other shirt. I've a huge amount of time for SamT and think he's got a lot to give.
I'm also very happy bridge is playing centre, as I think he's got a lot of potential there.
I'm just happy to see England trying to play to their strength rather than worrying about the opposition.

Good post

Good team.

Well done Smith for having some balls.

Would rather have Lee Smith at full back though.

Yep, can't disagree with any of that. Time to give the young guns a go.

Probably the right team, but I'm not sure about Peacock in the second row.

McGuire, Smith and Tom Briscoe came in for a lot of (mainly justified) criticism after Saturdays defeat, but they were not helped by having Peacock in the second row, who IMO is not quick enough for that position particularly in defense.

I would have had Westwood in the second row, Peacock starting and Morley on the bench.

Id would of gone for

Shaun Briscoe
Peter Fox
Chris Bridge
Michael Shenton
Ryan Hall
Sam Tomkins
Kyle Eastmond
Adrian Morley
Kevin Sinfield (better passing, more direction)
James Graham
Jamie Peacock
Gareth Ellis
Jon Wilkin (pointless as a sub)

Bench:
Sam Burgess
Eorl Crabtree
Ben Westwood
James Roby (impact player)

Me too - he offers far more in attack

He's only picked Eastmond so he'll sign for Warrington.

Nahhh!

He'd much rather come to Wigan, the team he supported as a kid and play alongside his new England partner.

We've a way to fall to match you yet

Completely pointless playing Sinfield at hooker. Completely.

Sinfield's distribution from hooker against Australia was far more impressive that Roby's. With Eastmond and Tomkins in the halves though, Sinfield needs to step up and play a big role at 13.

I disagree. It will be good to have Sinfield there (or Wilkin, when Sinfield's at 9) to back up incase one of the youngsters fails to cope, but we should start with the intention of those two playing the natural half back game that they're accustomed to.

I agree. I'm not sure what you disagree with? Sinfield at 9? I've no problem with Sinfield at 13 at all, I was just pointing out that he didn't do badly at 9 when moved there on Saturday.

EDIT - Sorry, re-read it. You're saying we shouldn't need an overreliance on Sinfield at 13? Hopefully not, but I would say he will probably take on most of the kicking duties regardless.

I thought sinfield was very good when he moved to hooker.

I thought smith would have started with sinfield at 9 this week but think he's made mistake bringing wilkin in against the kiwis.

An interesting side ... I like it.

With Roby at 9 and Tomkins and Eastmond at 6 and 7 we've got players both sides of the ruck and at the ruck itself who can ask serious questions with ball in hand. The NZ defence will have plenty to think about.

The question is whether we can maintain a composed game plan with all that young get-up-and-go in the side. That's where Sinfield has to come in - it's something he does so well for Leeds (particularly in those 3 grand finals).

If he can do it in grand finals then in theory he should be able to do it at international level also. I hope he does because when he took responsibility last week, it made a difference. We need everyone to be working as a team to their potential to have a shot at beating the Kiwis. If anyone has defensive insecurities (and I'm not sure about Fox and Bridge as I haven't really watched them enough to judge) then the Kiwis, like the Roos last week, will just exploit. So everyone needs to remember their best game ever and exceed it!

Glad to see the 'third man in ,cheap shot' Whinos wasters have been binned by their erstwhile mentor.
That said, I still think the Kiwaks will be too strong for us.

I said same thing last week. Peacock is not mobile enough to defend outwide and is better at prop.

The teams much better then the ones picked so far but i'd still like to see a couple of changes made within the 17 before kick. They'd be-

Morley to the bench with Peacock going to prop and Burgess coming in at second row

and

Sinfield and Roby swapping positions with Roby being asked to play abit of a free role and pop up around the pitch in attack causing the Kiwi's problems with his power and pace. I'd let Sinfield keep us ticking over from 9.

Ouch.