After a clunky first-up victory over Lebanon, Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has challenged his side to show improvement against Jamaica on Sunday morning (AEDT), while reminding players that spots in his first-choice 17 remain up for grabs.
New Zealand players acknowledged combinations were below-par in the 34-12 win, but Maguire said the squad’s response had been positive through the week.
“I challenged the team from last week to be better than what we have been,” he said.
“The boys were very strong in the meetings which was really pleasing. We have spoken about how we want to play and be effective in the way we do things.
“I think there were areas in our game last week where we didn’t hit the ground running as fast as we would have liked. We have got to make sure that we do that against Jamaica and make a bit of a statement about how we are playing.
“I’m looking forward to seeing that come out on Saturday.”
Match Highlights: New Zealand v Lebanon
Maguire has made a number of changes to his side, bringing in Canberra's Sebastian Kris and Panther Scott Sorensen to make their Test debuts, while veteran wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and forward Isaac Liu come into the starting side after missing week one.
Warriors-bound forward Marata Niukore gets a shot at the vacant left centre position, after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played there last week.
Maguire said his plan was to field close to his first-choice line-up in the final group game against Ireland.
This article contains content that is only available on pan66.com
“I am definitely keen to start heading in that direction. The guys this week definitely have a big opportunity to push themselves forward into the opportunities ahead," Maguire said.
“Moving into selections for next week, I am pretty keen to start embedding some combinations.
I have got an idea about the makeup, but there have been some players over here that have really impressed.
Michael Maguire
“I want to make sure that I know exactly what I have in the squad.
I thought [Niukore] did a really good job for us in the mid-year Test [at centre] and I feel that it's right to give him another opportunity. He earned the right to be able to have a shot there.”
Meanwhile Maguire said he was excited to return to the NRL in a coaching capacity after it was announced this week that he was joining the Raiders as a senior NRL consultant for the next two seasons.
The Premiership-winning coach hasn't worked in the Telstra Premiership since parting ways with the Wests Tigers earlier this year.
“I played with Ricky [Stuart], Canberra is my old club and I have always stated that I do love the coaching,” Maguire said.
“It'll be a great opportunity for me to get back in and help anywhere within that organisation.”