STACEY JONES credited New Zealand’s fast start as they closed out their group stage campaign with a record 78-0 victory over Fiji.
The Kiwis were 48-0 up at the break, having scored four tries in the opening 12 minutes, and they never looked back against the Bati, who had pushed Australia all the way last weekend.
“It was a statement, and I’m really proud of how they went about it against a good team that played really well a week before,” said Jones, whose side finished the match with 12 men after Ronaldo Mulitalo’s second-half red card.
“We knew the challenge that was in front of us, and I think the physical battle was spot on right from the start.”
Asked whether such a fast start was in the game plan, Jones admitted: “It was just the way things happened. It’s test match footy.
“The week before (against the Cook Islands) we got off to a flying start too, and eight minutes later we were behind.
“We came out with the right mindset, in particular our starting middles were just on top of their game, and they laid a really good platform for the guys out wide.”
By contrast, Fiji were a shadow of the side that put up such a fight against Australia.
And head coach Wise Kativerata conceded: “It was a professional team, and a professional organisation that has probably come up against some young men as well as some NRL players, a mixture there.
“We probably didn’t handle it as good as we could have. But they were red hot, in the first half especially.
“In the second half they probably backed off a little, but I thought our blokes never stopped trying.
“Losing Wakey (Brandon Wakeham) in that second half obviously didn’t help, but we weren’t in the contest.”
Prior to Wakeham’s dismissal for a punch in retaliation to Mulitalo’s high tackle and Jordan Miller’s late sin-bin for a headbutt, the Bati also lost lively hooker Api Koroisau to a facial injury.
But the head coach was pleased with his side’s resilience, explaining: “We had to rejig our team a little and it looked a bit unusual there at the back end of the game, but the guys handled it as best as they could, and I take my hat off to them.”
