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World Cup bosses have reportedly booked the Kiwis a flight home the day after their sudden-death semi-final clash against Australia and New Zealand great Tony Kemp isn’t surprised.
The tournament’s organisers were forced to predict when competing nations would be knocked out of the World Cup to put flights on hold according to the SMH.
Michael Maguire’s side have reportedly been informed of their scheduled flight out of England post-match and were bizarrely originally schedule to fly out after the Old Trafford grand final.
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Kemp, who coached the Warriors in 2004 and 2005 and played 25 Tests for New Zealand, said the Kiwis were the nation’s most disrespected team.
“Obviously, it (New Zealand’s most disrespected team) is the Kiwis currently with that news that came out yesterday,” Kemp said on SENZ.
“They put them in terrible hotels, they always have done.
“They give them the worst fields to train on and the English and Australians have treated them like that for years.
“Was I surprised when I read that? Not at all. Was I surprised that it came out before the Semi-Final? Not at all.”
If the world No.1 are able to knock Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos out of the competition it will cost World Cup officials $350 per ticket to change the flights — totalling $10,000.
The unusual scheduling predicament will only give the New Zealand side added motivation to knock over their trans-Tasman rivals, who are currently heavy favourites to progress to the final.
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Kemp believes World Cup organisers are desperate for an Australia vs England grand final.
“100 per cent that’s what they want, an England v Australia World Cup Final,” Kemp said.
“The Kiwi boys are used to it, they’ll get up for it … that’s disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, Daly Cherry-Evans labelled the Kangaroos the “underdogs”, despite currently holding the World Cup crown.
“We’re the underdogs. They’re ranked No. 1 for a reason and the last couple years suggests they’ve been playing some high-level footy,” Cherry-Evans said.
“They’ve been playing more often than us so they’ve got a bit more continuity in their side and we don’t have any control over how the tournament is ranked.
“All we know is we’re playing against a red-hot Kiwi side and we’re more than up to the challenge.
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“We’ve been really aware of where the tournament is going to unfold and we had an idea that this game was coming.
“We know if we play our style of footy we’re going to be hard to beat but we’re going to have to take it to a new level to beat New Zealand but the foundation is definitely there for us to play some really good footy next week.”
Meanwhile, Harry Grant is set to face former teammate Brandon Smith in a huge dummy-half battle.
“Obviously we’re great mates… but that goes out the window when you’re playing for your country – you’ve got bigger things to worry about,” Grant said.
“Everyone’s mates and you talk during the tournament but when you pull on the green and gold jersey, you’re playing for Australia and the blokes alongside you.
“We’ve formed such a good bond over this whole tournament so we don’t want to let this opportunity slip.
Tonga were also scheduled to fly home after the semi-finals, but were knocked out early, going down to Samoa 20-18 in a heart-stopping clash.
World Cup organisers have also come under the microscope after some nation’s officials questioned the logistics and scheduling of the tournament.
The hosts, England, have reportedly been given a dream run as their players have escaped sanction, while Junior Paulo was handed a one-game ban for a high tackle.
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