Four Kiwi debutants to face Scotland

Four players will get the chance to make their Test debuts for New Zealand this Friday against Scotland.

Debutant David Fusitu’a takes a wing spot,in the starting line-up while three others – Te Maire Martin, James Fisher-Harris and Joseph Tapine – will come off the bench for their first appearances in an international test match.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has also been named at fullback in place of Jordan Kahu.

The NZ team have moved camp to Carlisle ahead of their game in Workington on the northwest coast of England.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for these young players,” Kidwell said.

“They are hungry, their effort and attitude in training has shown me that, and they’ll bring a lot of energy.”

After the 14-8 loss to Australia Kidwell acknowledges this game is a must-win.

“The most important thing right now is we need to win. Scotland started really well against England and we need to respect that,” he said.

“They have improved every game and if you add that on top of the conditions, we have a tough challenge ahead.”

“The guys making their debuts deserve the opportunity to play. They have worked extremely hard and have been pushing for spots all tour.”

Jason Nightingale also returns to the team, after missing last week’s test with an ankle injury.

Manu Ma’u and Greg Eastwood come into the starting team replacing Kevin Proctor and Jason Taumalolo, while Gerard Beale shifts to centre in place of Shaun Kenny-Dowall.
 
The full NZ Kiwis team is:
 
Number       Name    Club      Kiwi #
1    Dallin Watene-Zelezniak       Penrith Panthers    794
2    Jason Nightingale    St George-Illawarra Dragons        747
3    Solomone Kata    NZ Warriors    797
4    Gerard Beale      Cronulla Sharks    767
5    David Fusitu’a    NZ Warriors    –
6    Thomas Leuluai    NZ Warriors    704
7    Shaun Johnson    NZ Warriors    774
8    Jesse Bromwich (c)    Melbourne Storm    775
9    Issac Luke    NZ Warriors    749
10    Adam Blair     Brisbane Broncos    732
11    Manu Ma’u    Parramatta Eels    795
12    Tohu Harris    Melbourne Storm    778
13    Greg Eastwood    Canterbury Bulldogs    737
14    Te Maire Martin    Penrith Panthers    –
15    Martin Taupau    Manly Sea Eagles    785
16    James Fisher-Harris    Penrith Panthers     –
17    Joseph Tapine    Canberra Raiders    –
18    Lewis Brown    Manly Sea Eagles    762
19    Jordan Rapana    Canberra Raiders    798