Casey McLean Scored Four Tries as New Zealand Beat Fiji 78-0, and Ronaldo Mulitalo Now Faces a Ban
New Zealand are in the World Cup semi-finals after beating Fiji 78-0 on the Gold Coast on Saturday. Casey McLean scored four of their 13 tries and Jamayne Isaako kicked all 13 conversions, RNZ reported.
The one worry for Stacey Jones is Ronaldo Mulitalo, who was sent off in the second half and is waiting to hear whether he will be charged.
24-0 after 13 minutes
Jahrome Hughes ran through a gap to score from the Kiwis’ first set, and they had four converted tries inside 13 minutes. It was 48-0 at half-time, with eight first-half tries.
Fiji lost their captain early. Apisai Koroisau clashed heads with Joseph Tapine in the eighth minute and left with a suspected broken jaw, the BBC reported. Semi Valemei, who scored a hat-trick against Australia a week earlier, also went off with a head injury before the break.
| Team | Tries | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand: Casey McLean 4, Keano Kini 2, Jahrome Hughes, Dane Gagai, James Fisher-Harris, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Xavier Willison, Briton Nikora, Erin Clark | 13 | 13 | 78 |
| Fiji | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Two red cards
Early in the second half Mulitalo rushed out of the line and hit Ronald Philitoga high, and Philitoga had to leave the field with a head injury. Fiji halfback Brandon Wakeham punched Mulitalo in the head and a brawl followed. Referee Grant Atkins sent both players off, Fox Sports reported, and the two sides played the rest of the game with 12 each.
McLean, who moved from centre to the wing after the send-off, then scored twice in four minutes. Fiji prop Jordan Miller was sin-binned late in the game for another high shot.
“Pretty special and pleased about how we went about our business,” captain James Fisher-Harris told the BBC. “Fiji are a good team but I thought we played really well. It was a battle of the forwards.”
Isaako’s two weeks
Isaako kicked 13 from 14 in the 82-16 win over the Cook Islands last week, a New Zealand Test record of 38 points, according to RNZ. This time he did not miss.
Fiji beat New Zealand 4-2 in the 2017 quarter-final in Wellington, one of the great World Cup upsets. Nothing like it looked possible on Saturday.
Ponga, and who is next
Kalyn Ponga watched from the stands. Jones confirmed after the game that Ponga has trained this week and could play in the semi-final, the BBC reported, two weeks after he broke his arm in the opener. We covered his return to training here.
New Zealand finish second in Pool A behind Australia. Their semi-final opponent depends on tonight’s game between Samoa and Tonga, and the World Cup table will be updated the morning after.
