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| | Sunday, 30 June, 2002, 13:14 GMT 14:14 UK All Blacks bruised but buoyant
It was a difficult night for us in Wellington on Saturday and the weather wasn't ideal, but we were pretty happy with the result against Fiji. It was always going to be a physical game and unfortunately we couldn't get through the game without a few casualties. A couple of the boys got some pretty nasty knocks, but that is the nature of the beast when you play the Pacific Island teams like Fiji and Samoa - they are always very aggressive. I ended up slotting into midfield with 15 minutes left but I was just making up the numbers really as we had the game under control by that stage.
We go into camp in Christchurch on Tuesday so we'll have to see how our injured guys shape up - hopefully we won't be carrying any into the Tri Nations. It's been a pretty intense last five weeks since we came together as a squad straight after the Super 12, with Test matches every week. But we've got four good wins under our belts, and a couple of hard-earned ones against Ireland, which is what we needed. We've got a lot out of the four games in terms of team-work, our patterns of play and organisation on the field. It's been a good chance for the selectors to give everybody in the squad an equal opportunity - only our captain, Reuben Thorne, and lock Norm Maxwell have started all four games.
They have also been able to rest some players, like Greg Somerville, who have played a lot of rugby already this season. We were always told the whole squad were going to be used in these games - 26 players have been used - and it has been refreshing and good for team spirit. We are very fortunate in that a lot of players are in good form, and the Maoris have also played well so we know we have that strength in depth. More players are getting their opportunity on the international scene and putting pressure on the more established players.
We have got to home in now on what is going to be another difficult, but enjoyable, five or six weeks and a very tough Tri Nations series. Australia and South Africa have both been performing pretty well in the last couple of weeks so it is all building up nicely and we are looking forward to some great games. The Wallabies looked on top of their game against France, but they'll probably be a bit disappointed they almost let the French sneak up on them. We are happy to be starting our campaign at home (against Australia in Christchurch on 13 July) but they are still looking good and will be as difficult to beat as usual. | | See also:  30 Jun 02 | International 29 Jun 02 | International 22 Jun 02 | International 20 Jun 02 | International 15 Jun 02 | International 10 Jun 02 | International 08 Jun 02 | International Top International stories now: Links to more International stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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