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 on Friday.
New Zealand led 26-5 at halftime, appreciating the chance to play with freedom on a warm California evening after two bruising home Test wins over England.
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 while introducing a host of new faces.
There were 11 changes from his team who beat England 24-17 in last week’s second Test in Auckland, with centre Billy Proctor the only starting new cap.
Five players debuted off the bench — scrum-half Noah Hotham and forwards Wallace Sititi, Sam Darry, Pasilio Tosi and George Bell.
Fiji made two backline changes from team who beat Georgia 21-12 in Batumi two weeks ago, with Vilimoni Botitu shifted from fly-half to fullback.
Winger Caleb Clarke and scrum-half Cortez Ratima scored converted tries inside the opening 15 minutes before Fiji struck back through Botitu, the Castres back receiving an inside pass from Semi Radradra after the impressive winger claimed a cross-kick.
Proctor scored following a half-break from McKenzie before No.8 Ardie Savea bagged a try from a New Zealand quick tap as the half-time break loomed.
New Zealand’s Fijian-born winger Sevu Reece opened the second-half scoring before front-rowers Ethan De Groot and Bell barrelled over for the last two tries.
Both teams lost their scrum-halves to injury in the first half — Fiji’s Frank Lomani to an apparent shoulder blow and Ratima to a head knock in his first Test start.
It could add to a mounting scrum-half injury problem for the All Blacks, with leading candidate Cam Roigard out for the season and veteran TJ Perenara sidelined by a knee knock sustained against England. New Zealand’s next Test is an opening-round Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Wellington on August 10.
Fiji face Samoa in their first Pacific Nations Cup pool match in Suva on 23 August.
Meanwhile, a new-look Wallabies side continued their rejuvenation under coach Joe Schmidt Saturday to overcome Georgia 40-29 in an entertaining one-off Test in Sydney.
Australia crossed over three times in an electric opening 20-minute burst and held a decisive 26-10 half-time lead on a clear, but windy afternoon.
They had to fend off a determined rally from Georgia in the second-half before easing to victory in a high-octane match featuring 10 tries.
It continued a perfect start to the tenure of New Zealander Schmidt after Australia won back-to-back Tests earlier this month against Wales.
Underdogs Georgia, ranked 12th in the world, were fresh off a narrow win against Japan in Sendai.
But they rued a slow start and struggled to cope with Australia’s speed as scrum-half Tate McDermott repeatedly dashed past Georgia’s ragged defence.
It was just the third time the teams squared off and the first outside a World Cup.
Schmidt continued to experiment for Australia’s final match before the Rugby Championship in August, where they will start with back-to-back games against world champions South Africa.
Winger Darby Lancaster made his debut amid 10 changes to the starting line-up.
The Wallabies were wary with most of the Georgians playing at the club level in France, fuelling optimism they can become a top-tier rugby nation.
But in their first match in Australia since the 2003 World Cup, Georgia received a blow when captain Beka Gorgadze did not take his place after collecting a knock against Japan.
Georgia needed to make the most of their opportunities and an accurate penalty kick from Luka Matkava in the second minute eased nerves.
But Australia responded quickly when Hunter Paisami barrelled over for the opening try.
The Samoa-born Paisami provided explosive bursts as tries to Rob Valetini and Isaac Kailea gave Australia a 19-3 lead.
But Georgia hauled back into the contest with a long period of possession and were rewarded when Giorgi Babunashvili barged over the line.
Their comeback was short-lived when Fraser McReight finished off a well-executed set-piece just before half-time.
The Wallabies played with one less player early in the second-half after Filipo Daugunu’s yellow card for a clumsy charge was upgraded to red at the interval.
Georgia capitalised with Davit Niniashvili kicked into an opponent, but fortuitously collected the ricochet and jogged under the crossbar.
Akaki Tabutsandze then produced a moment of brilliance when he wrestled possession from Lancaster and sprinted off unopposed under the posts.
But Australia steadied through Valetini and McReight to ensure their winning streak continued.
Alex Hodgman became just the fourth man to represent both New Zealand and Australia in Test rugby, with the substitute loosehead prop taking the field in the second half.
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