Matai cleared to resume training 

Centre Steve Matai has been cleared to resume training with the Kiwis should they qualify for next week's Four Nations final.

The 25-year-old was forced off the field with an eye injury late in the first half of the Kiwis' clash again France in Toulouse last Saturday after taking an accidental blow to the head from team-mate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Assessed immediately after the game, Matai was initially ordered to rest for five days. He had a scan in Leeds which cleared him of any fracture around the eye area and a visit to an eye specialist on Friday confirmed there was no significant damage to his eye either.

Team doctor Simon Mayhew said that Matai was now able to participate in all training and there was no reason why he couldn't be considered for the Four Nations final should the Kiwis progress.

Second rower Bronson Harrison has also continued his impressive recovery from a torn calf muscle he sustained against Australia on October 24. He ran strongly at training on Wednesday and Thursday.

Leeds-bound Greg Eastwood, ruled out of the rest of the campaign earlier in the week , will now have surgery on his left hand in Leeds next Wednesday. He broke the scaphoid in the hand playing against France and initially faced about six weeks with the arm in a cast.

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