Thomas Leuluai is now on level terms with father James in terms of New Zealand caps.
New Zealander in position to make family history
Thomas Leuluai has pulled level with his father James in the New Zealand history books, but is intent on being two appearances ahead of him by the end of the Gillette Four Nations and not one.
The Wigan half-back or hooker made his 29th appearances for the Kiwis in Saturday's 36-0 win over Wales at Wembley, equalling the amount of caps won by his legendary father.
He is all but certain to win a 30th at Hull next weekend - a city where James is revered following his spell with the Black and Whites - against England, but is intent on making it 31 in the Four Nations Final on November 19.
Stephen Kearney's side will qualify if they beat England at the KC Stadium but, having mirrored England's results so far with a win over Wales and a defeat to Australia, will go home if they lose. As things stand, a draw would send them through on points percentage.
Ready
Leuluai is not contemplating the latter two options.
"We will go back, rest up and feel like we have a chance to win," the 26-year-old said.
"We definitely have more improvements in us from the second half (against Wales). We lacked a bit of intensity, dropped off and made some silly errors.
"We still have some areas that we need to improve and I am confident we will."
On matching his father's achievements, he added: "I only got told about it the night before the game, and that was pretty cool.
"If I get picked for the game next week I will have one more than him. It's only a little thing, but it's a pretty good thing for the family. I haven't spoken to him, but I will have to text him. I will have to ask him how he rates my game!"
The defending champions, who lost 26-12 to Australia in Warrington a week ago, looked to be finding their rhythm in the first half of yesterday's meeting with underdogs Wales, opening up a 26-0 lead by the interval.
Stand-off Benji Marshall was at his brilliant best, laying on four of his side's five first-half tries, two of which went to forward Sika Manu.
They found things harder after the break, with a refreshed Wales limiting them to just two tries, scored by Gerard Beale and Nathan Fien and created by Leuluai.
Learn
"Wales made us work hard and I thought they played well," Leuluai said of his side's second-half dip.
"They probably played their best half that I have seen, and we have room for improvement.
"It was down to a number of things. We didn't keep things that simple, we didn't have too many opportunities with the ball. But you live and learn in this game."
The Kiwis suffered an injury blow during the game, with prop Sam McKendry suffering a broken jaw in a second-half collision with Craig Kopczak. He will be operated on tonight and return to Sydney early in the week.
Fuifui Moimoi is expected to be fit to face England despite being limited to six minutes yesterday after injuring his ankle.
