The Test series between New Zealand and Great Britain gets underway in the early hours of Saturday morning with both sides likely to be fired up to get the result ahead of the second and final match next weekend.
Both teams go into the match off the back of losses last weekend so it will be interesting to see who rebounds from that and delivers their best stuff here. You sense this one will be more intense than what went before as well.
New Zealand
It was a very flat performance from New Zealand last week, which was a real surprise as usually they have no issues getting up for a battle against Australia. They won’t need telling that they will need to improve all areas of their game if they are going to get the win in this match. The Kiwis never really got any momentum going in a forward direction and they were powerless for too often when it came to defending.
When you look at the squad on paper for the Kiwis, it looks very strong so there is no reason why we shouldn’t think last week was just a blip but time will tell on that score. There certainly appears to be no shortage of oomph in the New Zealand forward line so their success or otherwise could boil down to whether they can create enough off the back of that to get through the defences of the Great Britain side.
Great Britain
It was very much a disappointing performance from Great Britain last week, not least because their defeat was largely built on errors, of which there were far too many. It wasn’t as though that was a warm up match either. It was a Test match in its own right. The concern now for GB fans will be the physicality of that contest and how much it might have taken out of their side energy wise as we know it has cost them personnel.
The biggest worry from Great Britain last week was the lack of creativity in the red zone. Tonga were never really tested defensively and that would have disappointed Wayne Bennett and give his staff plenty to work on over the last week or so. They are going to need to be a whole lot better if they are going to come through this match with the win they desire. If there is a positive it is that their defence held up pretty well last week.
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Team News
New Zealand have made drastic steps after their demise to Australia last weekend. Shaun Johnson has been dropped which is a big call given that Kieran Foran, his replacement, has barely played at this level recently. Benji Marshall skippers the side.
Great Britain will be forced into a couple of changes for this match as Luke Thompson and Oliver Gildart have picked up injuries which will keep them out for the remainder of the tour. Jake Connor and Tom Burgess are expected to come in.
Betting
New Zealand go into the match as the favourites to win it and in a lot of places they are being asked to cover as many as eight points on the handicaps. I’m not so sure I’d want to rush into backing them though after their poor outing last week. I don’t expect them to be as bad here but you just don’t know for certain and even if they are better, there is a good chance Great Britain will be better too.
The bet I like for this match with that in mind is under 41.5pts. I don’t expect either defence to give a whole lot away here and there was certainly a lack of spark and continuity in both attacks last week which suggests points will be at a premium here it must be said. Both these teams have a real point to prove and I’m expecting a competitive match off the back of that so I like under 41.5pts.
Tips
WON – Back Under 41.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with 888sport
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