Surprises in Kiwi team
New Zealand coach David Kidwell is promising footy the Kiwi way when the team take on Samoa on Saturday night in their World Cup opener.
Kidwell dropped a few bombshells, going with Kodi Nikorima at five-eighth rather than Te Maire Martin, giving a run-on debut to Brad Takairangi at centre, revealing Dean Whare has an ankle injury, having an interchange bench which has just three test caps between them and going with Joseph Tapine and Kenny Bromwich as his starting second rowers.
When the team is read out, it really hits home with who’s missing from this squad.
But Kidwell is hoping that an improved culture and a united team spirit will make up for absent stars and his catch phrase for what will be on display at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend is ‘Kiwi footy’.
‘‘That’s what we’re about, Kiwi footy,’’ Kidwell said.
‘‘I want the young generation to want to be a Kiwi,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought to myself what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over again and getting the same result.
‘‘So I’ve thought about how I want to play, our style of footy and the whole three of the coaches have had input into it, but most importantly the players have as well.’’
The lead into this World Cup, and indeed Kidwell’s entire time as Kiwis coach, has been cloaked in controversies, although none of them were of his making. While he didn’t want to talk about himself, he did say he felt the adversities have made him stronger.
‘Kidwell wouldn’t say if the team picked to play Samoa was his top team, rather than it’s the one for just this test and by the looks of it he’s looking to play a fast, mobile game against what will be a physical Samoan side.
And of course there’s that Kiwi way, which Kidwell described as making smart decisions and playing tough. That’s exactly what he’s wanting from Takairangi at centre.
‘‘Everyone in the team has got very clear roles, I want Brad to play the Kiwi footy way,’’ he said.
‘‘That’s everyone in that team, we’ve been training it, we’ve been talking it, we’ve been really precise on how we want to play and hopefully we’ll see that on Saturday night.’’
The big selection call was who to go with at five-eighth, to partner Shaun Johnson in the halves and Nikorima got the nod over Martin, because he’d impressed him the most.
‘‘It was a really tough call,’’ Kidwell said. ‘‘Obviously Te Maire has just come off playing in the grand final, but Kodi, he wants it.’’
● Meanwhile Samoa have thrown a few squad surprises of their own naming a burly matchday XVII.
A monster forward pack including captain Frank Pritchard and Canberra-based duo Junior Paulo and Josh Papalii will start hoping for an upset win over the hosts.
With several Australian- and Kiwi-born players, that’s a distinct possibility.
Ben Roberts will run the cutter at halfback, partnered by Joseph Paulo, while NRL regulars Tim Lafai and Joey Leilua line up in the centres.