In my opinion this is the best possible team:

[iJosh Hoffman

Jason Nightingale, Simon Mannering, Krisnan Inu, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

Kieran Foran
Shaun Johnson

Elijah Taylor
Sonny Bill Williams, Frank Pritchard
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Isaac Luke, Jesse Bromwich[/i

Interchange: [iThomas Leuluai, Frank-Paul Nu'uasala, Sam Kasiano, Sam Moa[/i


Best forward pack in the World Cup. So if they dominate their opponents, the halves will have a field day.


As for the perhaps controversial selections:

* Simon Mannering currently plays second row for the Warriors. But there is a surplus of classy back rowers and a shortage of quality centres for the Kiwis. Mannering happens to have played a lot of centre in his younger days.

* Josh Hoffman has been in much better form than Kevin Locke lately.

* Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was Dally M winger of the year. Manu Vatuvei was not.


I cannot see England beating this team.

really!! i thought the Kiwis were bringing a load of mugs



Seriously though,of course should England and NZ meet it will be tough.That said, the Kiwis can blow hot and cold in this country and dont always live up to potential.England are capable of beating them IMO,much more so than the Aussies who hold a massive psychological hold on us.But you are right you would have to have them as favourites against us.

England are more than good enough to compete with this team. Our pack can be as powerful as theirs, and is (baring Money Bill) a bit more creative. And the backline doesn't scream strike power. RTS is a magician yes, but the rest are just OK.

It's a superb looking team.

The Kiwis problem will be the same as it always is, themselves, they seem to not show up in this country.

That team will be hard to beat.
SBW, Waerea-Hargreaves and Luke are all better than their English counterparts IMO.
The NZ Halves are better than the England Halves IMO.
The Wingers are pretty good, they fall down in the Centres, Mannering has had his day as a Centre and Inu is too erratic to depend upon.

The weakest link may be the Coach, they had Wayne Bennett pulling the strings when they won the World Cup.

Nobody said it would be easy............

Am I alone in the view that Issac Luke is a touch overrated? Granted I've only caught a handful of the Rabbitohs games this year but he just doesn't do as much for me as the other hookers people place in the "world class" bracket.

I don't see how you can comment if you've only seen him play a few times this season?
Luke is a brilliant hooker, easily one of the best in the WC.

Doubt Mannering will play centre - I think Dean Whare is much more likely or even Bryson Goodwin.
Also think Manu Vatuvei will still be first choice but it is close, fullback choice is really close but i'd go with Locke over Hoffman - don't agree that he hasn't been in form lately and his link up with Shaun Johnson is very potent.

Kiwis look better than they have ever been but England don't play them yet (and indeed may not do) so I'd rather not lose any sleep over it.

How mouth watering is the clash of the kiwi v English packs? Can't wait!

Good side but beatable. We may worry how to cope with Johnson, SBW, Luke etc but they will be worrying about Tomkins, S Burgess, Roby and co.

As and when we meet it should be a very good game and it will be close. They don't hold that fear factor for us like the Aussies do.

A pack of forwards in which you can't find a place for Greg Eastwood, Ben Matulino and Alex Glenn has to be awesome.

I think that the Kiwis pack will roll over Australia's pack, as well as everyone else's --- and that is assuming that Sonny Bill Williams just has an average game, which he won't (he has made a big issue of playing for this World Cup)!.

As I say then it will be up to the Kiwi halves to capitalise on it, and they are more than capable of doing that. Having a big unit like Mannering in the centres (he still has some pace as well) will make it very tough for opposing three quarters. He will feed either Nightingale or Tuivasa-Sheck, as will Sonny Bill and Frank Pritchard. Those three edge runners are going to be a handful for opposing three quarters, including Australia's. I just don't see Watkins and Cudjoe handling them, not to mention Charnley.

I am going to put money on New Zealand to win the World Cup again.