Great start for Kiwis, but sterner tests coming up against Kangaroos
It couldn't have gone any better for the Kiwis on Saturday night, trouncing Samoa to set up a couple of mouth-watering clashes against the Kangaroos. New Zealand has started their international campaign with a 50-0 win over Samoa at Eden Park, while Samoa remained scoreless at the Pacific Championships. The Kiwis will now face a tougher test against Kangaroos, which they lost to them at the World Cup final last year. Coach Michael Maguire has introduced new players into the squad, but he is not looking at the potential threat posed by the Kangarooos. The next two matches will be against Australia, with the Kiwis set to face in Melbourne on Saturday and Hamilton on the final of the Pacific Championship. Jamayne Isaako, who scored two of New Zealand’s nine tries, believes the team's win could help them improve their performance.
Published : 2 years ago by David Long in Sports
New Zealand reached a half-century while keeping Samoa scoreless at the Pacific Championships encounter at Eden Park.
The Kiwis couldn’t have got their international campaign off to a better start than the 50-0 win over Samoa at Eden Park on Saturday, but next comes a tougher examination, two tests against Australia.
Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has been able to seamlessly introduce new players into a squad that lost narrowly to the Kangaroos at last year’s World Cup final, as the team held an opposition scoreless for the first time in 22 years.
But the measure for any international team in league is how they go against Australia and they’ll get two bites of the cherry over the next fortnight, facing off against them in Melbourne on Saturday, then again the following week in Hamilton in the final of the Pacific Championships.
It’s a strong Kangaroos side this year, but not one that should scare the Kiwis, although Maguire isn’t thinking about what Mal Mengina’s team will bring to the tests.
“I’m not looking at them, I’m looking at what we need to do, with how we get better as a group,” Maguire said.
“We showed we can put pressure on opposition. We need to be more clinical, some of the plays we had, we’ll work on, so we’re more fluid. But time spent together is going to help that.
“Also, defensively, there are things we’ll tidy up as we move forward.”
Kiwis winger Jamayne Isaako, who scored two of New Zealand’s nine tries also thought there was plenty they could take from the Samoa win.
“We had a game plan we executed,” Isaako said.
“We had a few errors, but if we can polish them off, we’ll be prepped for the Kangaroos and it will be a good contest next week.”
It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the Christchurch-born Isaako. This time last year he was languishing playing reserve-grade footy in the Queensland Cup, having been discarded by both the Broncos and Titans.
But Wayne Bennett knew he was the type of player he needed at the Dolphins, so signed him and Isaako went on to score the most points and tries in the NRL this season, to put his career back on track.
“I’ve spoken about it a lot with coaches, players and friends,” Isaako said.
“But coming off the back of last year, I was playing Q Cup and didn’t know where this year was going to go.
“An opportunity came up in round one to fill the wing spot, I got that opportunity from Wayne and haven’t looked back since.”
This was also Isaako’s first appearance for the Kiwis since 2019, so Saturday night meant a lot to him for that reason.
“I was born and raised in Christchurch and to be back in the black jersey is special,” the 27-year-old said.
“You never know when that opportunity is going to come and the last time I was in the black jersey was in 2019, and I didn’t think I was ever going to put it on again after playing for Samoa in 2019.
“But the opportunity came up again and when Madge [Maguire] gave me the call, it was a no-brainer for myself and my family.
“I’m a proud New Zealander and was willing to play for the Kiwis.”