Hohaia forced out

New Zealand will not issue an SOS to Stacey Jones after Lance Hohaia was ruled out of the Tri-Nations Series.

Hohaia had been expected to replace Jones at scrum-half for the remainder of the tournament but damaged ankle ligaments in the win over England.

Jones is currently training with Super League newcomers Les Catalans and is due to fly back to Auckland to attend the birth of his second child.

Motu Tony, Louis Anderson and David Faiumu could all deputise for Hohaia.

Asked if Jones could make a dramatic return for Saturday's game against Great Britain, New Zealand coach Brian McClennan said: "I haven't rung him.

"We're toying with a few options at training. We'll see what works and hopefully we can get by.

"Fortunately, we've got guys who had a good hit-out against England, even though we lost Lance.

"Louis can play dummy-half which frees up Mots and David Faiumu, who came through the ranks at half-back, so we're not as poor in the halves as people may think.

McClennan is likely to keep Great Britain guessing by delaying his team announcement until the last possible moment.