30 Nov 2013

Pritchard to miss World Cup final

5:12 am on 30 November 2013

Kiwis forward Frank Pritchard will miss Sunday morning's Rugby League World Cup final against Australia at Old Trafford.

Pritchard has been bothered by a hamstring injury that also forced him to miss the semi-final win over England.

Meanwhile the other injury concerns, wingers Manu Vatuvei and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have both been included in the 19-man squad named by coach Stephen Kearney.

The final 17 will be confirmed just before kick-off.

Kearney says the stakes are too high to risk Pritchard, who is not a hundred percent.

The Kiwis have a similar squad to that which beat England 20-18 at Wembley last weekend, with just Greg Eastwood and Vatuvei coming into the 19 and Sam Moa and Pritchard dropping out.