Kiwis near full strength for League World Cup

Captain Nathan Cayless, Lance Hohaia and Manu Vatuvei have all been cleared of injuries to line up for New Zealand in Sunday’s World Cup encounter with Australia in Sydney.

Vatuvei and Hohaia (hamstring) along with Cayless were originally named to face Tonga in last Saturday’s 56-8 triumph but withdrew before the match as a precaution.

The trio have all overcome their niggles to line up in the starting XIII against Australia, while utility Dene Halatau has also fully recovered from minor knee surgery to take his place on the bench.

“In the end we didn’t want to take any risks with Nathan, Manu and Lance against Tonga,” said coach Stephen Kearney.

“It made sense to keep them out of that match after they’d all played for the All Golds against New Zealand Maori [on October 12].

“Now they’re right to go against Australia and Dene has also recovered well from his operation.”

Hohaia’s return sees Sam Perrett shift to the wing in the only backline change from the Tongan match.

Skipper Cayless slots in at prop along with Adam Blair, which means Sam Rapira will come on as an interchange player as the only specialist propping option on the New Zealand bench.

In the main surprise in the starting line-up, Melbourne enforcer Sika Manu will make his Test debut against Australia as he runs out in the number 12 jersey.

The reserves bench has a mobile look to it with Halatau adept at covering the back row, hooker or centre while Setaimata Sa and Greg Eastwood have a similar versatility.

Notable omissions are hooker Issac Luke, a standout in the Kiwis’ Centenary Test loss to Australia in May, and South Sydney loose forward David Fa’alogo.

“It’s a good position to be in having so many players competing for spots but it still doesn’t make it any easier picking the side,” Kearney said.

“It means there are players who are left disappointed.”

The side includes 14 players who were involved in finals football in either the NRL or Super League competitions. Only Parramatta’s Cayless and Wests Tigers duo Halatau and Benji Marshall missed out on the post-season.

New Zealand team to play Australia in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, October 26: Lance Hohaia, Sam Perrett, Steve Matai, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Benji Marshall, Thomas Leuluai, Nathan Cayless (captain), Nathan Fien, Adam Blair, Simon Mannering, Sika Manu, Jeremy Smith

Replacements: Dene Halatau, Greg Eastwood, Setaimata Sa, Sam Rapira