'They can hurt us': All Blacks out to avoid San Diego trap
SPOTLIGHT: All Black assistant coach Leon MacDonald says there is no way his team can drop their guard against Fiji in San Diego this weekend.
New Zealand will enter the match as heavy favourites and they will have some momentum behind them after a 2-0 series victory over England.
“We respect Fiji immensely. You only have to look at the World Cup, how they beat Australia and how close they took England,” said MacDonald.
“They get up for games against the All Blacks or any big nation – that’s what they thrive on. And, it will be a dry ball and fast track, and we’ve got to be right on.
“If we drop our guard a little, they’re going to hurt us and we don’t want that to happen.
“We want a really good performance; one we can be proud of.”
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Haka & Cibi. The meeting of two cultures 🖤
The All Blacks and Fiji clash again this Friday night in San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT🎟️ Limited tickets are still available here ➡️ https://t.co/ePbdXHnHmh pic.twitter.com/mwcnxh2kKZ
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 16, 2024
Lock Patrick Tuipulotu had been left in Auckland for some recovery time ahead of this year’s Rugby Championship.
Before the England series, he suffered a knee injury in the Super Rugby Pacific Final.
He also rolled his ankle in that match.
Blues lock Sam Darry, who was with the squad as locking cover, joined the San Diego side.
The All Blacks are set to rotate their team a bit for Friday’s showdown, but they will still need to be clinical against a strong Fiji side.
“Given the travel factor and limited training time, we’ve got to ensure we get the performance we are looking for,” said MacDonald.
“There are areas we need to tidy up, that’s obvious.”
He added: “England posed quite a unique challenge around how they shut you off, and at times we did well to beat that.
“We reviewed the missed opportunities.
“So, this week’s about us getting better. Any good defence is hard to breach and England was physical at the breakdown and put a lot of pressure on us there.
“We clear on what we need to do to be better and we’ve got this week to continue growing our understanding of our game and skill sets.”
Source: @AllBlacks
