Going out on a limb here and saying that the third quarter final between New Zealand v Fiji will be an upset. There isn’t a great deal between the sides, perhaps the Kiwis have the better halves combination, and slightly more impact off the bench, but in general the backlines and forward packs are of similar strength.
Fiji’s forward might lack the big NRL names, but the back three of Viliame Kikau, Brayden Williame and Tui Kamikamica have been tremendous and are more than a match for the Kiwis three. And in Suliasi Vunivalu Fiji have one of the best finishers in rugby league, if not the very best. Sure, there’s no Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at the back, who has been in great form, but their fullback Kevin Naiqama has been quite good too, and Taane Milne and surprise packet Akuila Uate have been great on the whole.
Then there’s momentum. Fiji finished off really well against a tough and feisty Italy last weekend, whereas New Zealand threw a decent half time lead to lose to Tonga.
It will be tight, it is a risk to tip Fiji, but we will.
Fiji by 2
England should win, they have too much big time experience, although one can argue not experience of winning anything internationally.
Sam Burgess’ return swings the momentum even more strongly to England, and with Gareth Widdop and Jermaine McGillvaray in such fine form they should have plenty.
PNG at their best and most error free can really give them a shake. Their fearsome defence and powerful ball running could also cause the English plenty of peoblems. The key is holding onto the ball and limiting the penalties.unlike against the minnows England have the firepower to truly punish the Kumuls.
Another factor against a Kumuls win is their performances in the two Grand Final of the Hunters in 2017. Despite winning the Intrust Super Cup Grand Final, the Hunters did appears to be suffering from stage fright for the first chunk of the game. They eventually defended their way into the contest and snatched victory, but England might be too far away. Against Penrith in the NRL State Champiosnhip they were simply blown away early and never recovered. Their second half was much better but too late.
Whilst that applies to the Hunters, and the Kumuls have much wider experience, thee are still a lot of Hunters in the side, especially in the halves,.
In saying all of the above, we say f*** the stats, and let’s dream for a while and round off an excellent 2017 for PNG rugby league with an upset win over England this Sunday.
PNG by 6
whats next BISH
f.. you scotland 
Hot Forum Topics
