JAMES FISHER-HARRIS admits the New Zealand squad feel like they’re chasing history after booking their place in the World Cup final.
Stacey Jones’ side will face Australia at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium this Sunday after a 34-10 semi-final victory over Tonga came with tries from Briton Nikora, Dane Gagai, Casey McLean, Jahrome Hughes, Xavier Willison and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
Fisher-Harris hopes the Kiwis can replicate their only success in the tournament from 2008, saying: “We’re just trying to chase history.
“We’ve been building with this squad and generation over six or seven years, and we’ve worked our backsides off to get here.
“We’ve got a tight knit group, and we’ll celebrate this moment.”
Despite falling short of their ambitions in the semi-final, Tonga still have plenty to be positive about on the back of the World Cup.
Co-captain Jason Taumalolo hopes the journey of the past month will see the current group stick together – alongside attracting others.
“The boys know how much it means to our people,” he said.
“You can see the parades, the flags, and the sea of red that seems to follow us – they’re proud people regardless of the result.
“Although we didn’t get the result tonight, they’ll still be happy to be celebrating us and what we’ve achieved.
“Deep down the boys are hurting, but they can hold their heads up knowing they did their family proud.
“We’ve got players that could’ve easily chosen other nations, but they stuck with Tonga, and I’m sure with the camp we’ve had, they’ll stick.
“They’ve made just as big a sacrifice as I have – that’s what has made the group connect well.
“They opted to play for our little nation in Tonga to make our people proud. I’m sure they’ll stick for the rest of their careers.”
