All Blacks 'got the rewards' against combative Fiji

REACTION: New Zealand captain Scott Barrett said a Fiji side that was close to full strength proved combative during their Test match in San Diego.

An All Black side featuring six players on debut cut loose against Fiji with seven tries to win their one-off Test 47-5.

New Zealand led 26-5 at half-time, appreciating the chance to play with freedom on a warm California day after two bruising home Test wins over England.

Flyhalf Damian McKenzie landed six of his seven conversion attempts and was a central figure as the All Blacks’ backs feasted on dominance of possession and the forward pack’s ability to win quick breakdown ball.

Fiji nevertheless restricted New Zealand to the lowest score in their eight Test encounters, with the average score in those meetings being 69-12 to the All Blacks.

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Rugby is different 🙌

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— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 20, 2024

“We talked about grinding them down, it took a bit of time to do that and we got the rewards on the end of that,” said Scott Barrett.

“Fiji certainly showed up in the physical areas.

“It wasn’t fully polished, we have pretty high standards in this team.

“Fiji were able to get their hands on the ball to turn it over at times but we created enough opportunities to turn into points.”

Fijian skipper Waisea Nayacalevu admitted his 10th-ranked side were outplayed.

“They made it hard for us and put us under pressure,” he said.

“It was tough when we were losing momentum, we couldn’t get back to do what we wanted to achieve as a team on our defence.

“Credit to the boys for fighting for the whole 80 minutes.”