NZ will be ‘100 times better’ if they make final: Yeo

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NZ will be ‘100 times better’ if they make final: Yeo

Australia captain Isaah Yeo has warned New Zealand will be “a hundred times better” than during their first Pacific Championships clash if the traditional rivals meet again in the Pacific Cup final.

The Kiwis will start hot favourites to beat Tonga in Auckland on Saturday and book a rematch with the Kangaroos, who punched their ticket to the decider by winning 22-10 in Christchurch on Sunday.

New Zealand showed positive signs in Stacey Jones’ first game at the helm, controlling the territory battle for long stretches and guarding possession better than Australia.

But they were outperformed defensively and a long list of absentees meant halfback Shaun Johnson had little support in orchestrating the Kiwis’ set plays on return from retirement.

While the Kangaroos came into the clash on the back of a win over Tonga earlier this month, the majority of New Zealand players were lining up for their first competitive game in almost two months.

In total, 10 members of the Kiwis’ 17 played in NRL teams that missed finals this season, so last played a competitive game in the week beginning September 2.

Australia had themselves looked out of practice in their first match of the Pacific Championships, as they made a staggering 19 errors in the win over Tonga at Suncorp Stadium.

Improvements shown in the defeat of New Zealand led Yeo to believe the Kiwis were capable of similar growth should the sides meet again to decide the Pacific Cup on November 10.

“I felt like we were a better side this week than last week and I think just the extra weeks’ prep, you have the game under your belt,” he said.

“I certainly think New Zealand will be a hundred times better.

“There are blokes in there who wouldn’t have played for four or five weeks. So automatically, you get 80 minutes under your belt and another week’s training, you’ll be a better side for it.

“Off the back of that, whoever wins next week will be a better side again because they’ve got another game under their belt.”

But the captain felt his side was capable of making more strides of their own, after a bombed try from Angus Crichton headlined a list of preventable errors.

“I feel like our best football is still in front of us, which is exciting but I think that’ll be the case for both teams,” he said.

Yeo spoke candidly about the pain of Australia’s loss to the Kiwis in last year’s Pacific Cup final – a 30-0 drubbing that counts as the country’s biggest defeat.

The lock was pleased for the Kangaroos to have recorded their first defeat of the Kiwis in New Zealand since 2012 but still felt Australia had unfinished business in the tournament.

“It was certainly nice to get one back on them for sure but I guess the ultimate goal and all that matters is that championship in two weeks’ time,” he said.

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