Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga was pleased with his side’s improvement against the Kiwis on Sunday night, but he has a stern message for his players.
The job’s not done yet.
Australia avenged their biggest loss in history, a 30-0 shellacking by New Zealand in the Pacific Championships final last year, with a solid 22-10 win on Sunday.
The win clinched the Kangaroos spot in this year’s final where they’ll face the winner of New Zealand and Tonga next weekend.
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Meninga warned his side’s best football is ahead of them as they work to ensure last year’s embarrassment isn’t repeated.
“They played really well, they had most of the territory for most of the game but our goal line defence and inside our 20m was exceptional,” Meninga said.
“The start of that second half I think we defended four straight sets, so I’m really pleased with the effort and we scored a few more points than last week but there’s still improvement in us.
“We’ve got to play a bit smarter with the footy but I thought our control was a lot better this week than last week.
“There’s much improvement in that team, honestly, they’ve got to play Tonga next week and they’ll be a lot fitter and more cohesive as a unit.
“I’m just happy we’ve made the final, so we’ll sit back next week and watch what will be a pretty physical game.”
Kangaroos captain Isaah Yeo emphasised the job won’t be complete until they lift the trophy on November 100.
“The end goal is the championship in two weeks time,” Yeo said.
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“We spoke at the start of our camp two weeks ago that when you put this jersey on there’s an expectation to win but on the back of that there’s a process in the way we prepare and I feel like we’ve done that really well over the last two weeks.
“It was nice to get one back on them for sure, but the ultimate goal is in two weeks time.
“I certainly think New Zealand will be 100 times better (next week), there would be blokes in there that haven’t played for four or five weeks.
“Then whoever wins next week will be a better side again and so will we, I feel like our best football is still in front of us which is exciting.”
Injured Kangaroos star Cameron Munster echoed the sentiment while on Fox League’s expert panel.
“Mal will be pretty happy with the performance but we can’t hang our hat on a win in Christchurch, we’ve got the game in Sydney, the big one,” he said.
“We were in this position last year and they pulled our pants down.
“So I’m sure the boys will be ready for the challenge next time and the Kiwis with their first game under the belt, they blew the cobwebs out, they’ll be better against Tonga, not sure who wins that game but it will be a blockbuster final.”
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