What the Kiwis need to do

Two weeks after the remarkable win over the Kangaroos, the Kiwis resume their international campaign with the start of the three-test series against England in Hull.

New Zealand coach Michael Maguire has stuck with the same 17 as he looks to get one back over Wayne Bennett’s England outfit, who comfortably beat the Kiwis in his first match in charge in June.

Guarding against letdown

As impressive as the Australian result was, it was only one game. And it’s imperative the Kiwis, who are still trying to win back the wider public’s support, maintain the momentum in England.

The extended break may help them reset. Up against a new team in a completely different part of the world, it’s almost like they are starting again.

Kiwis teams traditionally improve the longer they are together and all the talk coming out of camp has emphasised the need to build on their opening display.

Can JWH maintain the rage?

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ powerhouse display against the Kangaroos was a significant step forward for the Roosters enforcer. Not only was it his first win over Australia in 25 tests, he finally showed he is ready to be the leader the Kiwis so desperately need him to be.

Waerea-Hargreaves had previously struggled to replicate his strong club form in the international arena and has admitted to trying too hard in the past.

But the 29-year-old has simplified his approach and appears to be relishing the extra responsibility handed to him by Maguire. An NRL staffer has apologised and will attend cultural training and education for using racist language during Australia’s test win over Tonga in Auckland last weekend.

The NRL confirmed to Radio New Zealand it had wrapped up an investigation into the incident that included facilitating a meeting between Tongan DJ Alf ‘Al Goodie’ Aholelei and the casual staff member.

Aholelei used Facebook to express his outrage, claiming he

What will England bring?

Speaking of Wayne Bennett’s side, they may be missing Sam Burgess, Gareth Widdop and Ryan Hall but this is still an experienced squad who have played plenty of football together.

They possess a formidable group of forwards, even without Burgess.

Of the team that beat the Kiwis 36-18 in June, 11 have returned. and England do welcome back classy hooker Josh Hodgson. heard the official say the words ‘‘dance monkey, dance’’ during the halftime break as a dance camera focused on exuberant Tonga supporters in the Mt Smart Stadium crowd.

The NRL quickly launched an investigation and said Aholelei had accepted an apology and the worker’s explanation for his comments.

Part of the settlement included the worker agreeing to attend cultural training and education.

Locking up the edges

Apart from their shaky final 10 minutes, New Zealand’s edge defence was the biggest area of improvement from the Kangaroos test. They should be better for the run and will need to be as you can bet Bennett will instruct his playmakers to send traffic their way.

Kiwi control

The win over Kangaroos was one of the most controlled, disciplined performances we have seen from the Kiwis for some time.

They starved the opposition of possession and constantly built pressure with a high completion rate. Their second-phase play had the defence on the backfoot, but rarely did they force the offload. And, for the most part, halves Shaun Johnson and Kodi Nikorima kicked well and capitalised on their attacking opportunities.

It’s a sign of the style Maguire wants to employ and now it’s up to the players to replicate that in hostile territory.

Sir John Kirwan’s beloved Auckland will open the gates to everyone for their Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final against Canterbury today, but he is thinking much bigger than that.

The All Blacks legend wants New Zealand rugby to be dramatically revamped with the provincial unions at the core, Australian sides invited to join a beefed-up NPC and Super Rugby to be replaced by a Heineken Cupstyle format that would bring in sides from South Africa and Japan.

‘‘We’ve got to get the tribalism back,’’ Kirwan said.

‘‘The game is changing pretty quickly. There’s a couple of things we need to get back to. We need to get back to some tribalism and some traditionalism, so get back to Auckland, North Harbour, Otago.

‘‘Super Rugby has been fantastic but domestic competitions are important and need to be strong.’’

Kirwan’s plans will find plenty of admirers around the country and raises some tantalising prospects, particularly the possibility of All Blacks turning out for their provinces.

For example, the idea of the Barrett brothers all playing for Taranaki together in a clash against Wellington has plenty of feelgood factor.

Top-end All Blacks frequently stress their desire to turn out for their provinces, even if the current structure of professional rugby does not allow them.

But Kirwan says this is more than just feeding nostalgic desires and insists the commercial aspects of the revamp would stack up.

The international component of Super Rugby – and the money it brings in – does not disappear in Kirwan’s vision, it simply fits into a model based on Europe’s Heineken Cup.

‘‘We need Australian football to be strong so I think they should become part of a 20-team, NRLtype situation,’’ Kirwan said.

‘‘For example, we would have possibly 14 New Zealand sides and then six Australian sides – get back to their traditional sides – and I think we’ve seen a resurgence of support [in Australia] for them.

‘‘And then the Japanese play their domestic competitions, the Africans play their domestic competition, and we could possibly look at a couple of Island sides coming in and then every four to six weeks we break into a four-round Super Rugby where we all play each other.

‘‘It would be Manly playing Auckland, playing the Cheetahs, playing Fiji.

‘‘The other reason I like it is that commercially we have more things to sell to Sky or whoever. ‘‘You can package up the New Zealand comp, the Japanese comp, the Currie Cup, the Heineken Cup and then the tests.’’

Super Rugby is at an interesting stage, particularly on the Australian side of the Tasman.

The expansion to 18 teams was widely seen as a failure and TV audiences and attendances in Australia and South Africa suffered as a result.

Sanzaar has been in discussions about how to take the competition forward after the current broadcast deal ends in 2020.

Jaded Australian rugby supporters have been vocal about how the competition lacks the ‘tribalism’ Kirwan wants to restore and the passionate scenes at the end of Otago’s recent Ranfurly Shield challenge against Waikato showed that fire still burns brightly in New Zealand.

As a result, Kirwan believes New Zealand Rugby would not necessarily be dismissive of any significant changes.

‘‘I think New Zealand have always been open to discussion about it and I think they also realise that it [the structure of the game] continues to be looked at. They went to Super 18 and now they’ve changed it.

‘‘It’s a discussion that needs to be had. What’s the domestic funding method now? A handout from New Zealand Rugby?’’

What: When, where:

‘‘Super Rugby has been fantastic but domestic competitions are important and need to be strong.’’ John Kirwan