2016 Four Nations - Round 1
World
Champions, Australia, and the number one side in the world, New Zealand, have arrived
on our shores again to take on England and Scotland in what will be the fifth
staging of this annual/bi-annual/tri-annual tournament dependant on what year
the World Cup falls and if every team can actually be bothered to take part in
international competition.
The
Aussies and Kiwis have two triumphs each from the four previous tournaments but
England can take heart as they have appeared in both finals on home soil so far. Hopefully they can change that this year by
winning a first international tournament as England and a first major
competition since Great Britain won the World Cup in 1972 – 44 years ago (a
whole 14 years before I was born!)
This is
Scotland’s first foray into the four nations and it will be hard for them to
get anything but pride from this competition.
Their main aim is to win a match but with their opening fixture coming
against the highly fancied Australians, it would be a major shock if it came
this weekend.
Here I
look ahead to the first weekend of matches...
AUSTRALIA vs SCOTLAND
(Friday, 28 October, KC Lightstream Stadium, Hull,
8pm)
Australia
It’s hard
to think of this game as anything but a training session for Mal Meninga’s
Australia side. This should be the ideal
start for the Kangaroos in their bid to retain this trophy that they narrowly
lost to New Zealand in Wellington two years ago.
The
current squad is packed with plenty of talent such as Jonathan Thurston, Greg
Inglis and Cameron Smith and even though they may not have the biggest pack in
the tournament this year, their backs are where they will really shine.
I’m sure
Meninga won’t be stupid enough to take the Scots lightly but I wouldn’t be
surprised if this game is used to rest some of the bigger stars for the tougher
tests to come in New Zealand and England later in the competition.
Their
warm-up victory over the Kiwis two weeks ago will have brushed off any
remaining cobwebs and the Aussies will be buoyed by their second half
performance of scoring 18 unanswered points in that 26-6 victory.
Scotland
The
Bravehearts’ coach Steve McCormack has picked what he deems to be Scotland’s
strongest ever squad and with the mix of Super League and NRL experience within
it, it is hard to disagree with him.
As this
is Scotland’s first time in this competition against the big boys of rugby
league they will need all that experience to click and gel if they are to
fulfil their ambition of winning a game in the Four Nations. The ‘fourth’ nation has never won a match in
this tournament and Scotland are determined to do what France, Papua New
Guinea, Wales and Samoa couldn’t by achieving that feat.
Captain
Danny Brough will be expected to play a strong leadership role on the pitch and
with Preston born, Huddersfield teammate Ryan Brierley opting to act upon his
Scottish ancestry as well, that partnership behind the scrum could be crucial.
Lachlan
Coote and Euan Aitken have joined their NRL compatriots Kane Linnett and Luke
Douglas in playing for Scotland this year which provides another boost for
McCormack.
A number
of their more experienced players were rested in their 48-16 warm-up victory
over a Cumbria Select XIII last weekend so the players should be fresh and
eager to get stuck in against the much fancied Aussies.
MY PREDICTION – A comfortable victory for Australia by
30+ points.
ENGLAND vs NEW ZEALAND
(Saturday, 29 October, The John Smith’s Stadium,
Huddersfield, 2:30pm)
England
This will
be the most crucial game of the competition for Wayne Bennett’s players. Each time they have played New Zealand on
home soil they have usually won so it is vital for the team to win this opening
game if they are to progress to this year’s final.
The RFL
made a major coup earlier in the year when they named Bennett as the new coach
of the national side and when Sam Burgess returned to rugby league after a
stint in the 15-a-side code he was always going to be a shoe-in to the squad
when it was named later in the year.
Bennett
has since named him captain for the tournament and if he can show anywhere near
the kind of form that he did three years ago in the World Cup England fans will
be in for a treat.
Some
people will be confident that England can repeat their series victory over the
Kiwi’s last year and start this competition with a win. I don’t like to look back at past glories as
they will mean nothing on the day and as much as England may be slight
favourites to win this game the Kiwi’s will be very dangerous as they will be
out for revenge at the least.
The
warm-up game against France was a good test for Bennett’s side. James Graham and Gareth Widdop looked strong
as did winger Ryan Hall so I’m excited to see them go again and it was great to
see the lads gain such a strong victory.
New Zealand
The
Kiwi’s also named a new coach this year in David Kidwell and his first
objective will be to try and keep hold of the trophy they won on home soil in
2014. The odds will be against them
however, as they have not reached the final of this tournament when it has been
held in the northern hemisphere.
It
surprises me that they are still the number one ranked nation in the world as
they are notoriously bad travellers having not won a series or competition when
they have had to travel so far from home since the Tri Nations tournament in
2005 but they always seem to pull out a hell of a performance when needed
against the Aussies – 2008 World Cup and 2014 Four Nations Final to note just
two.
Shaun
Johnson is available again this year having missed last year’s test series
against the English through injury and Jesse Bromwich is back as captain of the
side this time due to the absence of Simon Mannering. Like the Australia squad all of the New
Zealand players ply their trade in the NRL and will be nice and fresh having
had a few weeks off since the end of their season.
They will
be determined to make amends against their hosts this weekend after last year’s
series loss and I expect a tough opening game between the teams.
MY PREDICTION – A narrow victory for England by 6+
points.
