THE GRUDGE MATCH Blair calm before Tongan storm

KIWIS VIEW

It could be the biggest shakeup in the history of the international game, but neither the Kiwis or Tonga are placing much emphasis on a potential historic result in their Rugby League World Cup match at Hamilton this afternoon.

No tier-two nation has ever beaten one of the big three sides, but this highly anticipated and sure to be highly charged showdown at FMG Stadium Waikato looms as the best opportunity yet, as a stacked Tongan team look to take their history-making feats one big step further.

Having never made the quarterfinals of a World Cup, Mate Ma’a have now ticked that box, following their 32-18 defeat of Samoa in Hamilton last weekend, which came on the back of their first-up 50-4 win over Scotland in Cairns.

Thanks for the canapes, waiter, now for that juicy main course.

It’s one eyed on the menu ever since superstar loose forward Jason Taumalolo blindsided New Zealand and switched allegiances just prior to the tournament. When fellow Kiwi contenders David Fusitu’a, Sio Siua Taukeiaho and Manu Ma’u followed suit it just made the dish look all that tastier.

The talk from both camps this week has been that everyone has moved on, though it hasn’t caused Kiwis captain Adam Blair, who was scathing of Taumalolo in the days after his decision, to back down from that initial reaction.

‘‘I stand by what I said. It was in the heat of the moment, I guess I’m passionate about the Kiwis, and for me, I want people who are passionate about the Kiwis as well,’’ he said.

While that defecting group have surely sensed the heat all week, Tonga coach Kristian Woolf said he wouldn’t be having any special words to his squad, which contains10 former Kiwis.

‘‘I don’t think I need to, to be honest. They’re enjoying themselves, they’re enjoying what they’re doing, they’re in a good frame of mind, they’re ready to play footy.’’

So with a lineup more chockfull of talent than ever before, it’s time to see if anything can change for Tonga. They’ve only played the Kiwis in two official internationals before agonisingly losing 25-24 at the 1995 World Cup in Warrington, then being smashed 74-0 in Auckland four years later.

Woolf said being the first non top-tier team to knock over either New Zealand, Australia or England/Great Britain, would obviously be a great feat, but it wasn’t a form of motivation.

‘‘It’s not something spoken about,’’ he said.

‘‘Win or lose this weekend, we we’ve need to come up with a performance that was better than last week, and that’s what’s going to take us forward as a team.’’

And on the other side of the fence, Blair said his team weren’t spurred on by any potential embarrassment over being the first team to fall victim to one of the ‘‘lesser lights’’.

‘‘I haven’t even taken that into consideration, there hasn’t even been any thought about any of that stuff,’’ he said. ‘‘We obviously know that there’s quality throughout this competition, and Tonga are a quality side.’’

What Blair has been focusing his team on, throughout the campaign, is carrying a constant sense of calmness with them, both off the field, as well as on, and not wasting energy on things they can’t control. He said coach David Kidwell had been a big factor.

‘‘Us being calm does come a lot from David and the things that he’s done with us and the way he approaches and talks to us as a group.’’

If the Kiwis retain that composure for the all-important 80 minutes today, they can take confidence that the back-end of the game could be theirs for the taking – their two second-half efforts so far read 74-10 to Tonga’s against the same opposition.

With the two forward packs perhaps cancelling each other out, and Tonga even presenting quality finishers themselves, things like completion rates, discipline and accurate kicking games will play a big part in conditions which could well be wet, but which won’t stop another bumper crowd turning out, mainly cheering for Tonga. 34-10