Juniors master Fiji in Pacific Five Nations opener

Junior All Blacks 35 Fiji 17

The Junior All Blacks made a mockery of their name to beat Fiji 35-17 in the opening match of the inaugural Pacific Five Nations rugby series today.

There was nothing subservient about the New Zealand side, who kicked into gear in the third quarter to confirm the result well out from the finish at Suva, Fiji.

Ahead just 13-10 at the interval, the Junior All Blacks took just 12 minutes to pile on another 17 points following tries to workaholic flanker Josh Blackie and midfield back Cameron McIntyre.

Both were the ultimate result of counter-attacks after the tourists first succeeded in turning back the dangerous Fijians, then caught them desperately short of numbers at the other end of the field.

Blackie was gifted an easy run to the line after wing Caleb Ralph stepped around a ruck to pick up the ball, then McIntyre jogged over the tryline after the Juniors bounded up the right-hand touchline with a series of clever inter-passing.

During this period second five-eighth McIntyre landed both conversions and added a 48m penalty for good measure as the Junior All Blacks established a 30-10 advantage with 28 minutes remaining.

The match lost its shape to a certain degree after that and some among the 20,000-strong crowd had seen enough by the time the Juniors added to the scoreline when replacement flanker Johnny Leo'o scored in the 73rd minute.

Excitement machine Rupeni Caucaunibuca brought those remaining to their feet almost immediately after that when the classy Fijian wing ghosted 40m up the middle of the field to score near the goalposts.

The game had not started so promisingly for the Junior All Blacks, who conceded a try in just the fifth minute when flanker Aca Ratuva was driven over the line from a lineout.

A penalty to first five-eighth Stephen Donald followed in the 11th minute before the New Zealanders went ahead thanks to No 8 Nick Williams, who muscled his way through four defenders after detaching from the scrum closer to the line.

There was much interest in Caucaunibuca, playing his first match for his country since 2003 after Fijian officials lifted a 12-month ban imposed on the player last August for failing to attend a training camp.

The Juniors did an admirable job to largely keep Caucaunibuca quiet, although he made his presence felt with his late try and was only denied another by the unhelpful ounce of the ball when he chipped the opposition.

Blackie got himself about a lot to help dampen down the hot spots which always threatened to ignite in the Fijian backline, while hooker Corey Flynn and Williams worked long and hard.

The Juniors' next match in the series is against Samoa at Albany on Friday night.

The series involves the Junior All Blacks, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Japan.

Tonga and Japan play the second match of the series at Fukuoka tomorrow.

Junior All Blacks 35 (Nick Williams, Josh Blackie, Cameron McIntyre, Johnny Leo'o tries; Stephen Donald 2 pen, con, McIntyre pen, 2 con)
Fiji 17 (Aca Ratuva, Rupeni Caucaunibuca tries; Seremaia Bai pen, 2 con).
HT: 13-10.

- NZPA