No quarter given as Mal backs his stars
AUSTRALIAN coach Mal Meninga has kept the faith with his “tried and true” performers but has not ruled out making changes later in the tournament.
Meninga has named what he believes is his strongest side for the Kangaroos’ quarter-finals match against Samoa in Darwin on Friday night after playing every player at least once through the pool stages.
Michael Morgan has won the race for the five-eighth spot after being picked ahead of James Maloney and Cameron Munster to partner Cooper Cronk with Meninga picking 16 players who featured in the opening match of the World Cup against England, with only the injured Jake Trbojevic missing out.
“I love Jimmy,” Meninga said of Maloney. “He is a tremendous player. He probably didn’t have enough match fitness. Michael is the incumbent. He deserves his opportunity.
“Morgan has been really good. It’s funny how people can come out of the shadows when given the opportunity. He is looking forward to getting back in the No.6.”
Josh McGuire will start at lock and Reagan CampbellGillard has been named on the interchange bench while Wade Graham pipped Munster for the interchange utility role. Meninga said he could still tinker with his bench as the tournament progresses but was fairly certain of his top 13.
“The bench is the one we mused over a little bit,” Meninga said. “I went with what was good against England because (Samoa) have a big side and picked the four-forward bench. I’m very happy with the balance of the team.
“A lot of pressure internally by some of the younger ones. At this stage I’ll go with the tried and true and a team that has good experience to get the job done.
“If we get a really good result on Friday it would be hard to go beyond the 17. I’m not sure who we will play in the semi-finals. I’m settled on the top 13 but we’ll look at our bench as we progress.”
The Kiwis’ shock loss to Tonga last weekend has them on a semi-final collision course with the Kangaroos.
Provided Australia beat Samoa and the Kiwis beat Fiji they will do battle in next week’s semi-final.
“We’ve got to get through Samoa first,” Meninga said. “We’ll make sure that’s a priority for us..
“That’s a great semi-final battle at Suncorp. Many people would have predicted us and New Zealand as the two finalists but the way it has panned out, I’m sure England and Tonga will be pretty happy with that.”