With Beauden Barrett back at fullback, long-time teammate Damian McKenzie put on a show as a host of new faces made eye-catching debuts, including centre Billy Proctor and halfback Cortez Ratima.
The injury to the Chiefs halfback was the only blemish on what otherwise was a successful outing in California as the All Blacks’ decision to take the test to the United States proved a fruitful one in front of a packed crowd.
Mission accomplished
By SuperSport (South Africa)
An All Blacks side featuring six players on debut cut loose against Fiji with seven tries to win their one-off test 47-5 in San Diego.
New Zealand, appreciating the chance to play with freedom on a warm California evening after two bruising home test wins over England, led 26-5 at halftime.
Fly-half Damian McKenzie landed six off his seven conversion attempts and was a central figure as the All Blacks’ backs feasted on dominance of possession and the forward pack’s ability to win quick breakdown ball.
Fiji nevertheless restricted New Zealand to the lowest score in their eight test encounters, with the average score in those meetings being 69-12 to the All Blacks.
It was mission accomplished for New Zealand coach Scott Robertson, who made it three wins from three since taking charge and introducing a host of new faces.
Not a flawless outing
By Amlan Chakraborty, Reuters
The All Blacks made it three wins out of three in the July international window with a 47-5 romp over Fiji in front of a crowd of 33,217 in San Diego.
New Zealand ran in seven tries through winger Caleb Clarke, scrumhalf Cortez Ratima, centre Billy Proctor, loose forward Ardie Savea, winger Sevu Reece, prop Ethan de Groot and hooker George Bell.
Flyhalf Damian McKenzie added 12 points from the kicking tee at Snapdragon Stadium to continue Scott Robertson’s winning start as New Zealand coach after they swept a tough two-match home series against England.
The flying Fijians grabbed a try through Vilimoni Botitu but never looked like earning their first win over the All Blacks in their eighth meeting with the three-times world champions.
Coach Robertson made 11 changes to the starting side that edged out England in the second Test and will be particularly happy with the display by Procter and rake Bell, who came off the bench to score the final try in his debut Test.
It was not a flawless outing, and Robertson will still have plenty to ponder ahead of New Zealand’s Rugby Championship opener against Argentina next month.
All Blacks present nod to the future
Liam Napier, NZ Herald
The All Blacks presented a nod to the future and to the now in their successful excursion to the United States to leave Scott Robertson with several selection headaches.
With 11 starting changes from their scratchy 2-0 series sweep over England and six rookies introduced to the test arena, the All Blacks were never going to produce a perfectly polished performance against Fiji in San Diego.
While world No 10 Fiji are a significant step down from England, the All Blacks will be pleased to improve specific areas of their game, such as the shaky lineout, and with standout individual performances from midfielders Anton Lienert-Brown and Billy Proctor, the latter impressing on test debut in the same jersey his brother Matt donned six years ago.
The inexperienced bench injected impact, too. None more so than Chiefs No 8 Wallace Sititi who will quickly be pushing for a starting role after adding notable, powerful punch up the middle of the park.
Fellow rookies Pasilio Tosi and Sam Darry nabbed breakdown turnovers on the All Blacks line. Crusaders hooker George Bell bagged a late try on debut, too. They all slotted in seamlessly to state their respective cases for the Rugby Championship.
Rookies press claim for future spots
By Gregor Paul, NZ Herald
If a week is a long time in politics, it is yet longer in international rugby and an All Blacks side that couldn’t find space or build cohesion in the face of England’s defensive onslaught in Auckland were dancing all over San Diego with a sense of purpose and direction and looking much more like the pass and catch masters they want to be.
By the last quarter, so too was there an element of the All Blacks taking on a futuristic feel as they emptied their bench and unleashed a cohort of debutants, all of whom looked instantly comfortable with the pace and intensity of test rugby and suggested they will be challenging for starting places later in this World Cup cycle.
And the combination of so many new players producing what was at times a mix of slickly constructed and instinctively executed rugby, gave the first real sense of how coach Scott Robertson may be trying to reshape his All Blacks.
This was a young, inexperienced All Blacks side that had the confidence to trust their skills, follow patterns, shrug off mistakes and win big moments.
