All Blacks put 50 past Fiji in Dunedin

New Zealand outmuscled Fiji in their Test encounter to claim a hard-fought 57-23 victory in Dunedin on Saturday.

In a fast-paced and exciting game, New Zealand found things very different to last week, when they thrashed Tonga, and they were under the cosh for long periods against Fiji but eventually outscored their opponents nine tries to two.

Replacement hooker Dane Coles led the way with four five-pointers, with David Havili (2), Jordie Barrett, George Bridge and Will Jordan also crossing for tries and Beauden Barrett adding six conversions.

For Fiji, Albert Tuisue and Mesulame Kunavula dotted down and they were also rewarded with a penalty try while Ben Volavola succeeded with two penalties.

If truth be told Fiji’s physicality in contact and at the breakdown surprised their hosts but the introduction of the All Blacks’ replacements in the second half ― with Coles prominent ― proved to be the difference between the sides in the end.

The visitors were fastest out of the blocks and Volavola opened the scoring off the kicking tee after six minutes before the game came alive three minutes later when full-back Barrett crossed the whitewash for the opening try.

Fiji responded with another penalty from Volavola but the All Blacks were the dominant side and midway through the half they took control of proceedings when Havili scored his tries in quick succession.

In the 18th minute, Havili stepped past a couple of defenders inside Fiji’s 22 before crossing the whitewash and three minutes later he powered his way through the Pacific Islanders’ defence again to score under the posts.

Despite those scores, Fiji did not panic and they took the fight to their more illustrious opponents.  That tactic reaped reward in the 28th minute when Tuisue scored their first try off the back of a lineout drive and, with the score 21-11 to the home side, Fiji were still in the game.

New Zealand made a terrific start to the second half and three minutes after the restart Bridge cantered in for their fourth try after Codie Taylor and Havili did well in the build-up.

That did not deter the visitors though and shortly afterwards Sam Matavesi found himself in space down the left-hand touchline ― after an innovative lineout move just inside New Zealand’s 22 ― and he did brilliantly to shrug off tackles from Brodie Retallick and Sevu Reece ― before offloading to Kunavula, who barged over for his team’s second five-pointer.

That meant the All Blacks were leading 26-16 but, despite trailing on the scoreboard, Fiji had their tails up and held a slight edge during the next 10 minutes.

They suffered a setback in the 52nd minute, however, when Kini Murimurivalu was yellow carded for going off his feet at a ruck and it it wasn’t long before Coles scored his first try, off the back of a lineout maul.

Although they had a numerical disadvantage, Fiji continued to attack and in the 61st minute, after New Zealand conceded several penalties inside their 22, referee Paul Williams awarded a penalty try to the visitors with Havili also sent to the sin bin for illegally collapsing a lineout drive.

That meant Fiji now had the ascendancy in numbers but they did not capitalise on that as New Zealand finished stronger in the final quarter.  Soon after, Coles scored his second try before Jordan also got his name onto the scoresheet in the 70th minute to give his side a 43-23 lead.

The closing stages was a frantic affair with both sides running the ball from all areas of the field but New Zealand had the better of the exchanges and Coles went over for two further five-pointers inside the last five minutes to add some respectability to the score for his team.