All Blacks vs Fiji 2024: Scores, highlights, result, New Zealand win ...
- This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission
Billy Proctor led the line of debutants who shunted their CVs under the nose of Scott Robertson when the All Blacks surged to a 47-5 win against Fiji in San Diego on Saturday afternoon.
Centre Proctor rattled through his list of pre-match goals as he scored a try, made a handful of line breaks and also dovetailed nicely into the midfield with Anton Lienert-Brown as the All Blacks raced in seven tries at Snapdragon Stadium.
It was everything coach Robertson wanted from his No.13 who looked equally comfortable with his distribution and judgement in defence, as he also did when attempting to slither through tackles and punch across the advantage line.
Watch Wallabies vs Georgia, South Africa vs Portugal, Argentina vs Uruguay and Japan vs Italy with every match streaming ad free, live and on demand on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport
New Zealand's Billy Proctor gets away from Fiji's Semi Radradra. AP
Lienert-Brown was arguably one of the best on the park, he oozed aggression as he charged hard at the Fijian tacklers, and his combination with Proctor must have provided Robertson with a healthy dollop of comfort ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Although Robertson may not be prepared to break up the established 12-13 partnership of Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane for the first championship test against Argentina in Wellington on August 10, he knows he has a big unit in Proctor who operated with a sense of calmness as he went around his work under the California sun.
Ioane, who wasn't in the match-day 23, won't have been oblivious to what Proctor achieved and perhaps that is exactly what Robertson wanted when he named this side to play in the States.
READ MORE: 'Absolute sitter': Warriors rocked by 'poor' miss
READ MORE: Ricky takes aim at critics over Raiders finals doubt
READ MORE: Maroons great slams 'ludicrous' Origin ban
Good players react best when they know they have a point to prove.
Which is what Ioane now has to do, given Proctor is clearly capable of playing to a high standard, and with Lienert-Brown also an accomplished centre there is reason for Ioane to feel anxious.
Given the All Blacks were fortunate to squeak home with narrow victories in the 2-0 series win over England in New Zealand, Robertson would have welcomed the way his revamped side maintained concentration for long periods and was able to be more of a threat on attack.
NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson and Sam Worthington preview a banana skin game for the Wallabies and tackle a busy week of player movement in Super Rugby Pacific
The lineout was much better, the scrum maintained the dominance it showed against the English and the work around the breakdown was diligent and muscular.
But it was far from perfect.
Usually you would expect the All Blacks to use their fitness to drill home their dominance in the final quarter but they were only able to score one try - to debutant hooker George Bell who came off the bench - during that period.
New Zealand's Sevu Reece is tackled by Fiji's Frank Lomani. AP
Discipline let them down on the odd occasion, and captain Scott Barrett's decision to illegally take an opponent out in a ruck resulted in referee Matthew Carling consulting with his TMO before denying Sevu Reece a try.
All of the uncapped players got a run off the bench.
Loosehead prop Pasilio Tosi, lock Sam Darry, loose forward Wallace Sititi and halfback Noah Hotham entered the action to provide depth and options ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Following the try to Reece being disallowed, Hotham, Tosi and Sititi all displayed their skills to play key roles in creating a try for loosehead prop Ethan de Groot.
At the other end of the spectrum, in terms of experience, Beauden Barrett did a lot right in his first start of the year at fullback before being replaced in the 73rd minute by younger brother Jordie.
Fiji, ranked seven places below the All Blacks (third) in the World Rugby rankings, weren't interested in imitating England who caused the All Blacks so many problems in New Zealand.
Or, if they were, they were unable to get it going.
Rather than engage the New Zealanders with their mauling, the Fijians also wanted to match their opponents by playing a fast game and scored an impressive five-pointer when playmaker Isaiah Armstrong-Ravulua nudged a cross-kick across the field for Semi Radradra to gather and feed inside to Vilimoni Botitu.
Unlike England who caused the All Blacks problems by rushing up in defence, the Fijians spent longer periods scrambling back to snuff out line breaks or trying to snuff out promising backline moves.
New Zealand's Cortez Ratima is tackled by Fiji's Inia Tabuavou. AP
The Fijians also lost halfback Frank Lomani with a wrist injury, a significant blow given his fighting spirit and tenacity, in the 27th minute.
Cortez Ratima, in the No 9 jersey for the opposition, also had to retire hurt after suffering a head knock late in the first half.
That was one of the few injury concerns for Robertson. He is now 3-0 in his tenure as coach. It's a promising start.
