Three One New Zealand Warriors have been included along with five Test debutants for the Kiwis’ sold-out Pacific Championships clash against the Kangaroos at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday (6.05pm kick-off).
The match is the second leg of a Trans-Tasman Labour Day Weekend doubleheader following the Kiwi Ferns’ encounter with the Australian Jillaroos (3.35pm kick-off).
Shaun Johnson is at halfback with clubmate Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad paired with him in the halves while back rower Marata Niukore is named on the interchange.
Warrior-in-waiting and New Zealand captain James Fisher-Harris starts in the front row while returning Warriors Erin Clark has been selected as 18th man.
The 17-man squad also includes former Warriors in centre Peta Hiku, second rower Isaiah Papali’I and halfback Kodi Nikorima.
In his debut as Kiwi head coach, Warriors assistant coach Stacey Jones has handed maiden Tests to Gold Coast fullback Keano Kini, Melbourne winger William Warbrick, Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland, Brisbane second rower Jordan Riki and Sydney Roosters forward Naufahu Whyte.
While Crossland is in a New Zealand camp for the first time, Kini and Whyte were non-playing members of the Kiwis’ title-winning Pacific Championships squad last year, Riki was in New Zealand’s mid-year Test squad in 2022 and Warbrick played for the Kiwis A team against Tonga A last season.
The 26-year-old Warbrick becomes a triple international after impressing with 32 tries in 49 matches in his first two seasons in the NRL.
He was first a New Zealand representative in Australian Rules football before becoming a rugby union international with the All Blacks Sevens, winning a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
With Titans player of the year Kini starting at fullback, Nicoll-Klokstad moves to standoff, a role he filled when the One New Zealand Warriors stunned premier Penrith 22-20 during the NRL’s Magic Round in May.
Nicoll-Klokstad teams up in the halves with his 34-year-old clubmate Shaun Johnson who has made a return to the international arena for his 33rd Test just weeks after he announced his retirement.
Hull Kingston Rovers centre Hiku, who arrived back in New Zealand on Sunday, becomes the first Super League-based player to line up for the Kiwis since Thomas Leuluai was brought back home from Wigan for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
The starting pack features two of Penrith’s four-time premiership-winning forwards in captain and prop Fisher-Harris and second rower Scott Sorensen.
Christchurch-raised Riki, named on the bench for his debut, is one of five players with South Island connections.
A Riccarton Knights and Hornby Panthers junior, he is joined by Christchurch-born and raised winger Jamayne Isaako (an Aranui Eagles junior) while Greymouth-born forward Griffin Neame played for the Halswell Hornets as a junior and Crossland’s family on his mother’s side are from the West Coast. Nikorima lived in Christchurch as a youngster playing for the Burnham Chevaliers, Hornby Panthers, Halswell Hornets and Linwood Keas.
Apart from Johnson, the Kiwis’ most experienced Test players are Joseph Tapine (19 Tests), Hiku (17 Tests) and Fisher-Harris and Nikorima (15 Tests each).
Seven players were in the New Zealand side which beat Australia 30-0 in last year’s Pacific Championships final – Isaako, centre Matt Timoko, Nicoll-Klokstad, Fisher-Harris, Tapine, Papali’i and Neame while an eighth player in prop Leo Thompson was ruled out as he serves a one-match suspension picked up in his last outing of the NRL season.
After facing Australia, the Kiwis take on Tonga at Go Media Stadium in Auckland on Saturday, November 2. Buy tickets HERE.
The Kangaroos arrive in Christchurch later tonight after opening their campaign with an 18-0 win over Tonga in Brisbane last Friday night.
The Kiwis, Kiwi Ferns, Kangaroos and Jillaroos will all assemble at Wainoni Park in Aranui for a pōwhiri at 3.30pm tomorrow followed by a fan day.
NZ KIWIS v KANGAROOS
Apollo Projects Stadium
Christchurch
6.05pm, Sunday, October 27, 2024
1 Keano Kini | Debutant
2 Jamayne Isaako | 808
3 Matthew Timoko | 832
4 Peta Hiku | 781
5 William Warbrick | Debutant
6 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | 820
7 Shaun Johnson | 774
8 James Fisher-Harris (c) | 801
9 Phoenix Crossland | Debutant
10 Griffin Neame | 834
11 Isaiah Papali’i | 817
12 Scott Sorensen | 831
13 Joseph Tapine | 800
14 Kodi Nikorima | 793
15 Naufahu Whyte | Debutant
16 Marata Niukore | 825
17 Jordan Riki | Debutant
18 Erin Clark | Debutant
19 Trent Toelau | Debutant
20 Casey McLean | Debutant
