Kiwis coach Michael Maguire admits his team will have to improve considerably to contend in the Rugby League World Cup, after they came perilously close to a shock quarter-final exit on Sunday.
The game against Fiji in Hull was meant to be a statement performance – after some muddled workin the group stages – but it never really came.
Instead they served up another loose display, constantly inviting pressure with mistakes and ill-discipline, while also being less than polished on attack.
The final 24-18 scoreline didn’t really reflect the battle. The Kiwis were down 12-0 early, then trailed 18-6 with 33 minutes to play. They didn’t take the lead until the 71st minute, after a contentious penalty, before Jordan Rapana’s try sealed the result in the dying stages.
“It was a close game,” said a relieved Maguire. “Full credit to Fiji, they were able to put a bit of pressure on us but we created a fair bit of pressure on ourselves.”
The nervy performance was summed up in the last 10 minutes.
After working so hard to get to the lead – with tries to Briton Nikora (48th minute) and Joseph Manu (62nd) and Rapana’s penalty – they just needed to navigate the time out.
But prop James Fisher-Harris, who was otherwise excellent, tried a risky offload, to give up possession, before Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad coughed up at the play the ball in a subsequent set.
The Kiwis need to make a massive jump to compete with Australia – who demolished Lebanon 48-4 on Saturday – but Maguire is confident they can bridge the gap.
“We need to be better in areas of our game, you can obviously see that,” said Maguire. “They jumped us a little at the start and we put a bit of pressure on ourselves. We will improve, there is no doubt about that. We can’t give away cheap loose ball or errors or penalties; didn’t handle the pressure as well as we have done.”
But the tough contest could also work in the Kiwis’ favour, as they were pushed to the limit mentally and physically.
“We will get a fair bit out of being able to look back at that performance,” said Maguire. “But it is up to us how we deal with that.”
Fullback Manu was again a pivotal figure, carrying for more than 300 metres and constantly testing the Fijian line, while wing Ronaldo Mulitalo was sharp despite a couple of errors.
Fisher-Harris, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Brandon Smith were the standouts from a hard working pack.
Like his coach, Manu was pleased with the Kiwis ability to recover against a fired-up Fiji.
“We were pretty composed, especially with Jahrome Hughes there,” said Manu. “We just wanted to get through our process and ended up coming over the top of them.”
Manu was involved in the game’s pivotal moment, as a captain’s challenge found a Vilame Kikau strip, reversing the original decision of a loose carry by Manu and leading to Rapana’s decisive penalty shot.
“I wasn’t too sure but I thought I felt a strip and there was only a little bit of time left,” said Manu. “It ended up working in our favour.”
It was a debatable call, but probably correct, with Kikau’s arm ripping at the ball as completed made the tackle.
Halfback Hughes struggled with an elbow knock in the second half but Maguire said he was fine, adding that he expected Moses Leota and Marata Niukore to be available for selection for Saturday’s match with Australia in Leeds.
“I’m looking forward to this week,” said Maguire. “We are in the semi now and that is the main thing, we have a shot of going through to the big game.”
Kiwis 24 (Ronaldo Mulitalo, Briton Nikora, Joseph Manu, Jordan Rapana tries; Rapana 3 cons, pen)
