Dane Coles scores four as New Zealand beat Fiji 57-23 in Dunedin

New Zealand 57-23 Fiji, Forsyth Barr Stadium
Scorecard

Dane Coles scored four second half tries as New Zealand went on to defeat Fiji 57-23 in the first Test at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday.

Ben Volavola started the proceedings for Fiji as he kicked a penalty goal in the sixth minute and the response from the All Blacks came in the 10th minute with Jordie Barrett touching down and his brother Beauden Barrett kicked the conversion to make it 7-3.

Volavola helped Fiji narrow down the gap with a three-pointer in the 13th minute before David Havili scored back to back tries in quick succession. It was in the 18th minute he scored first as he went past a couple of Fiji defenders and in the 21st minute he dived from close range to complete his second try. Beauden kicked both the conversions as All Blacks raced to a 21-6 lead.

Around the half-hour mark, Fiji struck once again with Albert Tuisue diving over at the back of a line out but Volavola missed out on the conversion as the teams went into the break with a 21-11 scoreline.

New Zealand looked threatening at the start of the second half with George Bridge dotting down after good work from Codie Taylor and Havili in the build up but his efforts was cancelled with Sam Matavesi surprising the All Blacks defence before Mesulame Kunavula dotted down in the 48th minute.

The 52nd minute saw the visitors suffer a setback with Kini Murimurivalu sin-binned for going off his feet at a ruck as Coles went on to score his first try making it 31-16. The 62nd minute saw New Zealand penalised with this time David Havili yellow carded for illegally collapsing a lineout drive that also resulted in a penalty try for the visitors making it 31-23.

The game looked evenly poised heading into the final quarter but Ian Foster's men seized the initiative with Coles scoring his second in the 64th minute before Will Jordan also dotted down in the 68th minute making it 43-23. Any chance of a Fiji comeback was put off as Coles scoring two more tries in the 73rd and 76th minutes and Beauden kicked both the conversions as New Zealand completed a 57-23 win.