All Blacks conquer dangerous emissary Fiji gallantly

New Zealand’s All Blacks scored seven tries on Friday in a 47-5 win over Fiji in their first rugby match in San Diego in 44 years.

The New Zealand and Fiji players were acting in part as emissaries for the game of rugby in the United States, trying to sell a game to American sports fans who, if they are aware of it at all, see it as football without pads.

In that sense the game was a success. A crowd of 30,000 packed Snapdragon Stadium, the largest crowd for a game of rugby in San Diego. When the All Blacks last played in the city in 1980, beating the United States 53-6, they attracted 10,000 to the former San Diego Chargers’ NFL stadium.

"It’s been amazing to come to San Diego,” All Blacks captain Scott Barrett said. "We want to thank the rugby community here. We really felt the support and there are fans from all over the place coming to watch and we really felt that love.”

Fans on Friday saw an fast-paced match with plenty of movement and eight tries in total.

The field, home to the San Diego State Aztecs football team, was harder than usual for a rugby match which led to some unusual bounce from kicks.

Both teams lost a scrumhalf to injuries suffered when they were thrown heavily to the ground. Fiji’s Frank Lomani left with a dislocated shoulder and the All Blacks’ Cortez Ratima, after scoring a try in his starting debut, suffered an apparent concussion.

The All Blacks team contained six new caps and 11 changes from last weekend’s second-test win over England. It took a while to gel but when it did it produced some excellent backline tries.

The new midfield combination of Anton Lienert-Brown and Billy Proctor functioned well and created opportunities for the back three of Caleb Clarke, Sevu Reece and Beauden Barrett.

Lienert-Brown was one of the standout players of the match and might have booked a place at inside center for the Rugby Championship.

Flyhalf Damian McKenzie had more space than he was allowed in the All Blacks’ two recent wins over England and was able to take advantage of that space, though his kicking game was out of tune at first. Ardie Savea carried the ball strongly from the back of the scrum.

Play loosened up in the second half as both teams ran their benches and Fiji troubled the All Blacks defense at times but couldn’t finish.

"We talked about grinding them down. It took a bit of time to do that,” Scott Barrett said. "We got the rewards on the end of that. But Fiji certainly showed up tonight in the physical areas.”

For Fiji, flyhalf Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula was composed on debut while flanker Kitione Salawa ran strongly.

New Zealand had four tries and led 26-5 at halftime. Hooker George Bell scored on debut in the 78th minute and McKenzie landed his sixth conversion from seven attempts.

Friday’s match was part of an effort by New Zealand and World Rugby to establish rugby in the US sports market and build the sport’s profile ahead of the 2031 men’s and 2033 women’s World Cups which the U.S. will host.

The All Blacks have played several matches in the United States in the last decade, notably against Ireland at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2016, a 40-29 win by Ireland.

Rugby along with its offshoot rugby league and cricket all are working hard to break into the American sporting market. Cricket staged matches in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States last month and rugby league played matches in Las Vegas in March and will do so again next year.

Agencies