Hawke's Bay Magpie Tiaan Falcon kicked eight of his nine attempts at goal as the New Zealand Under-20s opened their Oceania Tournament campaign with a 63-3 drubbing of Fiji on the Gold Coast last night.
First five-eighth Falcon finished with 19 points for the defending champions and shone with his directional play. Baby Blacks head coach, Magpies mentor Craig Philpott, was impressed with Falcon's maturity in what were tricky windy conditions at the Bond University grounds.
Hawke's Bay age group frontrowers Tim Farrell and Pouri Rakete-Stones took the field as second half replacements in the 51st minute and played loosehead and tighthead respectively. Their scrummaging was powerful and Farrell got the thumbs up from Philpott for his option taking.
"Tim was proactive around the field. He knew exactly when to clean out and when to hold."
Improving their receptions at kick offs will be a key work on for the Baby Blacks before they meet Samoa on Tuesday. The southerly as well as the tricky lighting didn't help this aspect of play for either team.
"The wind played havoc with those but it is an area we need to improve and we want to nail our shape a bit more too. We've only been together a week so there is plenty of room for improvement," Philpott said.