{"id":339268,"date":"2023-10-17T06:47:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T06:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=339268"},"modified":"2023-10-17T08:00:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T08:00:41","slug":"kiwis-pull-selection-switch-for-samoa-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=339268","title":{"rendered":"Kiwis pull selection switch for Samoa clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

N\ufeffew Zealand<\/a> has rejigged its backline for its Pacific Championships opener against Samoa on Saturday, switching around Joseph Manu<\/a> and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.<\/p>\n

Manu was New Zealand's go-to fullback for last year's Rugby League World Cup and Nicoll-Klokstad played primarily in the centres, but coach Michael Maguire has made a switch for Saturday's clash at Eden Park in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Manu has been moved from fullback despite running for a world-record 401 metres in New Zealand's mid-season Test against Tonga last year, which the Kiwis won 26-6.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Denials and delusion in Eddie's spicy press conference<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Thurston, Meninga hit out over anthem furore<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Marathon doper cops huge ban after 'damning' revelation\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Roosters gun was also dominant in last year's World Cup, topping the tournament in tackle breaks and runs, racking up the second-highest number of run metres and chalking up the third-highest number of post-contact metres as the Kiwis reached the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

But Nicoll-Klokstad\ufeff was brilliant at fullback for the Warriors this year as the resurgent outfit powered to the preliminary finals, posting the second-highest number of run metres behind Panthers star Dylan Edwards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another\ufeff consideration is that regardless of whether Manu plays at fullback, in the centres or at five-eighth, he is a major threat.<\/p>\n

The Kiwis will blood four Test debutants in Raiders centre Matthew Timoko, Hull FC utility Fa'amanu Brown, Knights prop Leo Thompson and Cowboys front-rower Griffin Neame.<\/p>\n

On the back of Samoa's 38-12 defeat to Australia on Saturday night<\/a>, coach Ben Gardiner has dropped Melbourne centre Marion Seve for Storm teammate Young Tonumaipea.<\/p>\n

Watch the Kangaroos take on Samoa and New Zealand in the 2023 Pacific Championships on Nine and<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Samoa's new coach has also shifted Sea Eagles youngster Gordon Chan Kum Tong from the bench to hooker.<\/p>\n

\"Warriors<\/p>\n

Week two of the Pacific Championships will also see\ufeff Fiji meet the Cook Islands at Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, New Zealand's women's team will face the Tongan women's team at Eden Park, and the Papua New Guinean women's team will square off with the Cook Islands women's team at Santos National Football Stadium.<\/p>\n

New Zealand vs Samoa,\ufeff Eden Park in Auckland from Saturday 4pm (AEDT)<\/h2>\n

New Zealand\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2.<\/strong> Ronaldo Mulitalo 3.<\/strong> Matthew Timoko 4.<\/strong> Joseph Manu 5.<\/strong> Jamayne Isaako 6.<\/strong> Dylan Brown 7.<\/strong> Jahrome Hughes 8.<\/strong> James Fisher-Harris 9.<\/strong> Fa'amanu Brown 10.<\/strong> Moses Leota 11.<\/strong> Isaiah Papali'i 12.<\/strong> Briton Nikora 13.<\/strong> Joseph Tapine 14.<\/strong> Kieran Foran 15.<\/strong> Nelson Asofa-Solomona 16.<\/strong> Griffin Neame 17.<\/strong> Leo Thompson 18.<\/strong> Naufahu Whyte 19.<\/strong> Wiremu Greig 20.<\/strong> Danny Levi 21.<\/strong> Keano Kini<\/p>\n

Samoa\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Sualauvi Faalogo 2.<\/strong> Murray Taulagi 3.<\/strong> Izack Tago 4.<\/strong> Marion Seve 5.<\/strong> Brian To'o 6.<\/strong> Stephen Crichton 7.<\/strong> Daejarn Asi 8.<\/strong> Stefano Utoikamanu 9.<\/strong> Gordon Chan Kum Tong 10.<\/strong> Junior Paulo 11.<\/strong> Luciano Leilua 12.<\/strong> Connelly Lemuelu 13.<\/strong> Keenan Palasia 14.<\/strong> Spencer Leniu 15.<\/strong> Terrell May 16.<\/strong> Heilum Luki 17.<\/strong> Justin Matamua 18.<\/strong> Royce Hunt 19.<\/strong> Ronald Volkman 20.<\/strong> Greg Marzhew 21.<\/strong> Tommy Talau<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N\ufeffew Zealand has rejigged its backline for its Pacific Championships opener against Samoa on Saturday, switching around Joseph Manu and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Manu was New […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":339270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=339268"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339273,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339268\/revisions\/339273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/339270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=339268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=339268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=339268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}