McGillvary gets England debut to tackle Kiwis

He will be a relative late newcomer to international football and his much-deserved bow certainly could not come in a bigger contest with the series balanced one-all ahead of the final game at Wigan Warriors’ DW Stadium.

McGillvary’s inclusion in the 19-man squad is one of two changes by England coach Steve McNamara, Wigan scrum-half Matty Smith also drafted in, Huddersfield centre Leroy Cudjoe and Warrington Warriors second-row Ben Westwood missing out.

It is the first time McNamara has altered the make-up of his squad in any of their three Tests so far this autumn, including the 84-4 rout of France.

Indeed, he has never changed his actual line-up – neither Cudjoe and Westwood have had a look-in being unused in the 19-man squad for the last three weeks – but there seems certain to be a couple of changes now as he responds to last Saturday’s 9-2 defeat versus the Kiwis in London.

Huddersfield-born McGillvary, Super League’s top try scorer this season with 27 and earning his first Dream Team selection, is set to replace Joe Burgess, the 21-year-old Wigan winger who will, therefore, miss out on a farewell at his home ground before joining Sydney Roosters.

Smith is expected to come in for Wigan team-mate George Williams, Super League’s Young Player of the Year who admitted struggling in last week’s defeat against the world’s No 1 side.

McNamara will hope Smith’s greater kicking game will come to the fore, especially as that is arguably the area in which they failed most in London, although there is disappointment for uncapped Luke Gale, the Castleford Tigers scrum-half, who was the other option and can feel unlucky not to get the nod.

Smith, 28, was an ever-present in last year’s Four Nations but has not played for England since their final game of that tournament, the 16-14 defeat to New Zealand in Dunedin, with McNamara having been more impressed by Williams’s second half of the Super League season.

“We have had a great week with our preparation and the players are ready to take on a strong New Zealand side,” said the England coach.

“The players are well aware of the importance of the game and the improvements we have to make from our previous matches to give ourselves every chance of beating New Zealand.

“We will have to be at our best to win but we’ll relish the pressure of playing against a quality team in front of a full house.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Leeds Rhinos’ Ryan Hall, the winger who expects the game to be as close as they come.

“In last year’s (Four Nations) series the games we lost (Australia and New Zealand) were by two points and four points,” he said.

“That’s how close they are even though we have fallen on the wrong side of it.

“But now we want to be on the right side of that and if we win by two points we’ll take it.”

Hall has stressed the importance of rediscovering a clinical touch especially considering how limited scoring opportunities were last week.

He said: “Every time you play international football you’ve got to take your chances and be clinical as you don’t get that many.

“Defensive systems are so good and the players within them are very good too.

“So you don’t get many shots as has been proven over these last couple of games. You must take them.”

Strangely, not only has Hall failed to score in the series so far – he has plundered 26 in as many games for his country and is England’s record try-scorer – but neither has any back.

McGillvary, certainly, will hope to put that straight tomorrow but Hall insists the lack of tries from England’s three-quarters is of no pressing concern.

“It’s part of our job description I suppose but it’s not really sprung to mind as the only outside back in the tournament that’s scored is (New Zealand’s) Shaun Kenny-Dowall,” he said.

“That’s how the games have been played but I’m not too worried about it.

“The thing I am worried about is the overall team thing. I’ll always go back to that.

“If I ever score a hat-trick in a game I’ll always say it’s a team performance that counts and that’s more than ever now; it’s one all against the best team in the world and it’s the team performance that counts.”

New Zealand, meanwhile, are unchanged from the squad that won at the Olympic Stadium.

Utility player Kodi Nikorima, who was a late introduction at scrum-half then, keeps his place after playing a key role in the narrow victory.

Kearney, who has been in charge of the Kiwis since 2008, is now the most successful coach in New Zealand history, last weekend’s win taking him past the previous record of 22 victories enjoyed by Frank Endacott from 1995 to 2000.

England (probable): Hardaker; McGillvary, Watkins, Bateman, Hall; Widdop, Smith; Graham, Hodgson, Hill, Whitehead, Farrell, O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Roby, Ferres, T Burgess, Cooper.

New Zealand: Tuivasa-Sheck; Nightingale, Kahu, Whare, Kenny-Dowall; Hiku, Nikorima; Bromwich, Luke, Moa, Proctor, Harris, Blair. Substiutes (from): Taupau, Matulino, Glenn, Brown, Liu, Beale.