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And Samoa and Tonga will be sweating on the availability of star players after they departed the field with injuries.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, England are set to receive a massive boost to their forward pack.<\/p>\n
\ufeffRead on for all the Team Tips for Week 2 of the 2026 World Cup!<\/p>\n
FRIDAY OCTOBER 23<\/p>\n
Tonga vs Lebanon @ CommBank Stadium, 8:05pm AEST<\/p>\n
Tonga\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Lehi Hopoate 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Robert Toia 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Latu Fainu 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 14. Salesi Foketi 10. Jason Taumalolo (c) 11. Haumole Olakau\u2019atu 12. Siua Wong 13. Tyson Frizell 15. Stefano Utoikamanu 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Leka Halasima 18. Tuimoala Lolohea<\/p>\n
Team Tips: Tonga are likely to shake up their halves after Latu Fainu (pec) suffered an injury in the opening half and did not return back to the field. Tuimoala Lolohea is the likely option to replace him, while Talatau Amone is another option as he eyes a comeback to the field. Initially described as a pectoral strain, reports later suggested officials were optimistic it is not as serious as first feared but he will likely miss at least one week.<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Jacob Kiraz 2. Tony Francis 3. Michael Gabrael 4. Jordan Samrani 5. Jason Saab 6. Khaled Rajab 7. Alex Conti 8. Jaxson Rahme 9. Yehya Ayache 10. James Roumanos 11. Tony Sukkar 15. Mikael Ibrahim 13. Alex Twal 14. Moustafa Dirani 16. Jalal Bazzaz 19. Abbas Miski 20. Tupou Francis<\/p>\n
Team Tips: After conceding 42 points against Papua New Guinea in their opening match, Lebanon may decide to make some minor changes for their next match. Abbas Miski was in fine form with a double and will push for a spot in the starting side, while rookie Tupou Francis could receive more game time in the middle forward rotation.<\/p>\n
Olakau’atu stars in Tonga vs England | 02:06<\/p>\n
SATURDAY OCTOBER 24<\/p>\n
Papua New Guinea vs Samoa @ Santos National Football Stadium, 3:25pm AEST<\/p>\n
Papua New Guinea\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Morea Morea 2. Robert Derby 3. Zac Laybutt 4. Nene Macdonald 5. Dudley Dotoi 6. Gairo Voro 14. Finley Glare 8. Valentine Richard 9. Edwin Ipape 10. Luca Moretti 11. Rhyse Martin 12. Nixon Putt 15. Liam Horne 7. Bailey Biondi-Odo 13. Jack de Belin 16. Epel Kapinias 17. Sylvester Namo<\/p>\n
Team Tips: A dominant 42-18 performance against Lebanon is set to see Papua New Guinea remain unchanged for this week. However, the duo of Bailey Biondi-Odo and Jack de Belin could easily transition back into the starting side after coming off the interchange bench last weekend.<\/p>\n
Samoa\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Brian To\u2019o 3. Izack Tago 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Deine Mariner 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Jarome Luai (c) 8. Francis Molo 9. Benaiah Ioelu 10. Junior Paulo (c) 11. Connelly Lemuelu 12. Jermaine McEwen 13. Francis Manuleleua 14. Jazz Tevaga 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Shawn Blore 17. Sualauvi Faalogo<\/p>\n
Team Tips: Samoa will be forced into at least one change after winger Deine Mariner (hamstring) departed the field and is unlikely to return anytime soon. Mariner will be replaced by Melbourne Storm superstar Sua Fa\u2019alogo who scored four tries against France off the interchange bench. Clayton Faulalo and Enari Tuala are other potential options.<\/p>\n
Young Chiefs signing stars for PNG Kumul | 00:54<\/p>\n
England vs France @ HBF Park, 5:35pm AEST<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. AJ Brimson 2. Dominic Young 3. Hugo Savala 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Zach Eckersley 6. George Williams (c) 7. Harry Smith 8. Max King 9. Brad O\u2019Neill 15. Luke Thompson 11. Junior Nsemba 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Victor Radley 14. Jez Litten 16. Ethan Havard 17. Sam Walters 20. Ben Currie<\/p>\n
Team Tips: England will be sweating on the availability of Dolphins forward Morgan Knowles who was a late omission from last week\u2019s side after sustaining an injury during a routine training session. However, Knowles is expected to be fit for the match against France in what will be a massive boost to the national side who are already without key forwards Matty Lees and Morgan Smithies (hamstring).<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Arthur Mourgue 2. Benjamin Laguerre 3. Latrell Siegwalt 4. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet 5. L\u00e9o Darrelatour 6. Cesar Rouge 7. Th\u00e9o Fages 8. Romain Navarrete 9. Benjamin Garcia (c) 10. Lambert Belmas 11. Arthur Romano 12. Mathieu Jussaume 17. Mathieu Cozza 14. Amir Bourouh 15. Tiaki Chan 16. Jordan Dezaria 19. Louis Grossemy<\/p>\n
Team Tips: They may have lost 78-4 to Samoa but don\u2019t expect the French to make any drastic team changes. Facing European rivals England, they will look for a better performance this weekend as they travel to Perth, Western Australia. However, they will need to make at least one change with winger Leo Darrelatour (concussion) ruled out.<\/p>\n
Skinner points out areas of improvement | 08:00<\/p>\n
SUNDAY OCTOBER 25<\/p>\n
New Zealand vs Cook Islands @ One NZ Stadium, 4:05pm AEST<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Dane Gagai 4. Casey McLean 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. James Fisher-Harris (c) 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Moses Leota 11. Isaiah Papali\u2019i 12. Briton Nikora 13. Joseph Tapine 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Erin Clark 17. Xavier Willison 19. Keano Kini<\/p>\n
Team Tips: While there were fears Kalyn Ponga (arm) would miss the rest of the World Cup, New Zealand confirmed he is set to be available for the latter stages of the tournament if they make it through the group stage. The unavailability of the Knights captain will allow Keano Kini to slot into the fullback role. Coach Stacey Jones may opt to make other changes to his side but it is hard to see him rest any players as they need to win their next two matches to advance through to the finals. In a boost for the Kiwis, Knights star Phoenix Crossland will be available for selection if NZ make the finals. Crossland\u2019s ban for a hip drop on Nathan Cleary will be counted this World Cup according to CODE Sports<\/a>. Receiving a four-game ban, the grand final and the Kiwis\u2019 three group matches will count towards the suspension. Crossland is currently in the New Zealand camp for the World Cup.<\/p>\n Cook Islands\u2019 Team Last Week: 1. Esom Ioka 2. Paul Ulberg 3. KL Iro 4. Reubenn Rennie 5. Cameron Brown 6. Maui Winitana-Patelesio 7. Esan Marsters 8. Davvy Moale 9. Mason Teague 10. Makahesi Makatoa 11. Delahia Wigmore 12. Reuben Porter 13. Pride Petterson-Robati 14. Ruatapu Ngatikaura 15. K-Ci Newton-Whare 17. Brad Takairangi 19. Chaev Kolone<\/p>\n Team Tips: Coach Karmichael Hunt has confirmed star Valentine Holmes (syndesmosis) will be cleared to make his return to the field this week after missing the match against Fiji. A 21-time representative of the Australian Kangaroos, if Holmes is named, it will mark his international debut for the Cook Islands and he will slot straight into the back line.<\/p>\n Samoa demolish France in biggest WC win | 02:44<\/p>\n Australia vs Fiji @ Suncorp Stadium, 8:05pm AEST<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Jack Bostock 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Kotoni Staggs 5. Tom Trbojevic 6. Cameron Munster 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Patrick Carrigan 9. Harry Grant 10. Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui 11. Jacob Preston 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo (c) 14. Tom Dearden 15. Cameron Murray 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Keaon Koloamatangi<\/p>\n Team Tips: Australian coach Kevin Walters is set to completely shake-up his side for this week\u2019s match which will see a number of stars rested for the clash. Walters confirmed last Thursday evening that Cameron Munster and MitchellMoses (calf) will not play with the latter ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. <\/p>\n The absence of the pair will see TomDearden and SamWalker slot into the five-eighth and halfback spots. \u201cHe\u2019ll (Walker) play next week. We\u2019ll put him alongside Tom who will play five eighth,\u201d Walters said. \u201cHe (Dearden) was good when he came on and once he settled into the rhythm of the game. It\u2019s hard when you come off the bench like that in the halfback position and have to just get straight into it. I thought once he was settled, he showed his class. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting for them. They\u2019ll both get their chance to wear the green and gold together. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve played together as a halves combo so that\u2019ll be good.\u201d<\/p>\n Walker\u2019s premiership-winning teammate James Tedesco will also come into the side and be a direct replacement with ReeceWalsh for the No.1 jumper. Meanwhile, BradmanBest, DavidFifita and LindsaySmith all are expected to feature in the match after not taking the field against the Kiwis. It is unknown if Walters will also look to name EthanStrange for his international debut after being called-up into the Kangaroos squad for the injured Moses.<\/p>\n Fiji\u2019s Team Last Week: 1. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Waqa Blake 4. Solomone Saukuru 5. Semi Valemei 6. Kurt Donoghoe 7. Brandon Wakeham 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Mitchell Prest 11. Taane Milne 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Caleb Navale 14. Josese Lanyon 15. Emosi Ravosai 16. Elijah Keung 19. Jordin Leiu<\/p>\n Team Tips: A strong performance against the Cook Islands in the opening week of the tournament will likely see Fiji named an unchanged side. Sunia Turuva lined up on the wing last week but it will be interesting to see if shifts to fullback – a position he has previously played for the Bati.<\/p>\n Goosebumps from Fijian hymn | 01:33<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters is set to experiment with his side for their match against Fiji with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-635309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}