Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed to continue as GB's coxless pair

Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed, the two British rowers who are expected to lead the team's charge for Olympic gold in 2012, look set to continue in their coxless pair for the rest of the season – despite the fact that they have proved unable to beat New Zealand's world champions. The duo were selected for the coxless pair for the season's second World Cup event, which starts in Munich on 18 June. A double defeat for the British in the season's first World Cup in Bled, Slovenia, left the score in head-to-head meetings between the two crews as 7-0 to the All Blacks. It had been expected that for the second World Cup, the two men, who helped power the British four to victory in Beijing, might move into a bigger boat. But the team's performance director, David Tanner, is unrepentant about the decision to leave his two strongest men in the pair – despite the fact that they are set to line up again against New Zealand next weekend. Tanner said: "We're talking about two tough guys. They started this season totally committed to race in the pair. We fully supported them and I don't believe their two defeats in Bled undermine our basic strategy." In 2004 Tanner was responsible for switching Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell from a pair to a four in search of Olympic gold. Reed acknowledged Tanner's support: "We are not frightened of a challenge." He went on to reject any suggestions that the New Zealand pair were unbeatable. "They are a class act but I'm sure we'll have our day," the 28-year-old said. After Bled, some pundits, including Steve Williams, a crew-mate of Reed's in Beijing – suggested that it could be sensible to temporarily switch the two men into a different boat to help the search for a gold-medal winning combination in 2012. But Tanner rejected any suggestions that winning in 2012 was not already uppermost in his mind. "Look, we're totally committed to these two guys winning gold in London but 2012 is still a long way off. For now this is a good boat for them to be in."