Kiwis need to be better balanced, says Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

Fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck says the Kiwis need to better balance their attacking flair with more conservative play after a mixed performance in last night's 38-8 Rugby league World Cup win over Samoa.

The Kiwis were the stronger side throughout the seven-tries-to-two victory at Mt Smart Stadium but errors and poor discipline marred their first-half effort.

After going into the sheds ahead 10-4 following tries to Jordan Rapana and Shaun Johnson, the Kiwis improved their accuracy to run in five more four-pointers.

The Warriors captain crossed the chalk in the 68th minute but despite the result, Tuivasa-Sheck was ruing a late lapse that allowed Samoa's Joseph Paulo to score Samoa's second try in the dying seconds of the match.

"It's a good feeling but what really let us down was that try at the end there," said Tuivasa-Sheck.

"A lot of us weren't really pleased with the way we finished the game there with that try.
"We've still got a lot of work-ons and we're really happy that we can go away form this game and still improve."

The 24-year-old was reluctant to discuss reports on Friday suggesting he was keen to switch to rugby union after the final year of his current Warriors contract expires next season and said he was only concerned with playing strongly throughout the Kiwis campaign.

"II handled it really well and I didn't really think about that.

"I was all synched into what we were doing here as a team and I'm really proud of where we are today. That's what I'm focused on.

"I didn't really have anything (feelings) towards it. (I'm not) disappointed or happy.

"I'm just happy to be here and I'm proud to be a Kiwi and just trying to get better here before I look anywhere else."

The Kiwis attacked at every opportunity but too often pushed passes when they weren't on and finished the game with a whopping 17 errors and seven penalties against their name.

Tuivasa-Sheck believes some players got overly excited as their big forwards - including impressive debutant Nelson Asofa-Solomona and starting props Martin Taupau and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - made big inroads.

"The boys just got really excited," he said. "There were a lot of opportunities with the big boys who are able to get between two (defenders) and throw that offload.

"We spoke about encouraging all of that and playing that Kiwi footy and trying to spark up stuff like that but there's times when we need to balance it and just play out our sets and in that second-half we did that a lot better."

Coach David Kidwell was thrilled with his side's passion and commitment on defence but the loss of centre Gerard Beale to a suspected double leg fracture leaves him searching for a replacement ahead of next Saturday's second hit-out against Scotland in Christchurch.

Early reports suggest the Warriors new recruit faces a potential four to six month recovery.

"Unfortunately Gerard has gone to hospital (with) a suspected broken ankle, as far as I know," said Kidwell.

"Our thoughts are with him. His wife's there and Jason Nightingale has also gone there.
"It's all pretty raw at the moment. We'll take the win in but we'll sit down with the medical team and we'll sit down as coaches and look at who we can replace him with."

Tuivasa-Sheck was left with a bruised cheek bone and forehead after a first-half collision with Samoa hooker Pita Godinet, but will be fit to back-up next weekend.

"I feel good. It was sore at the time but I've just been checked out by the doc and he checked all the areas and I'm ready to go," he said.