Leeds duo add to GB options

12 April 2012

Great Britain coach Tony Smith is keeping his options open ahead of the second Gillette Fusion Test against New Zealand at Hull's Kingston Communications Stadium on Saturday.

Smith has added the Leeds duo of Kevin Sinfield and Danny McGuire and Hull centre Kirk Yeaman to the 17 players that combined to beat the Kiwis 20-14 in the opening match at Huddersfield.

"If we feel a change is necessary, we'll make that change," said Smith. "I've done that plenty of times before. I've been a bit renowned for doing that at times."

Stand-off McGuire missed that match with a broken hand sustained playing for the Northern Union against the All Golds while loose forward Sinfield was a late withdrawal with a stomach bug.

Smith insists he would have no qualms about changing a winning team and Sinfield looks to have a good chance of winning his 14th cap as Britain look to secure their first series victory for 14 years.

The coach is unlikely to change his half-backs after Rob Burrow and Leon Pryce combined so effectively at the Galpharm Stadium, which is likely to rule out a return for McGuire.

And, although Yeaman has recovered from an ankle strain and would be on home soil, he will struggle to oust either of the established centres, Keith Senior and Martin Gleeson, who did nothing wrong in the first Test.

Smith, who is set to name his team tomorrow, admitted his players were "rusty" at Huddersfield and is hoping another week in camp will enable them to find more cohesion.

In particular, he is hoping they can discover a sharper cutting edge after failing to make the most of a series of clear-cut chances in the first Test.

"We had a week together last week and the players made a pretty good fist of it in that time period," said Smith. But we only scratched the surface and with each day they're together and with each session we have together I would hope we could gel and get a better understanding of each other and execute a little bit better. Those are the areas we can improve on."

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