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New Zealand Maori rugby coach Donny Stevenson has targeted Australia A’s potent midfield “Maori connection” of Morgan Turinui and Timana Tahu as the biggest threat to his side in Sunday’s Pacific Nations Cup decider at Sydney Football Stadium.
Australia A holds a two-point lead over the Maori heading into the final round clash of the two unbeaten sides in the six-team tournament.
Stevenson described the Australians as “pretty clinical” and said they played to their strengths, especially their very good backline.
“They’ve got a Maori midfield there with Tahu and Turinui and they’ve got penetration out wide,” Stevenson said.
“They’ve been playing very good for the balance of games and using their loose forwards.
“It’s going to be a real exciting game because we want to play with a bit of width. We back our backs, we’ve got very mobile loose forwards, so I think it’s going to be an intriguing battle.”
Stevenson said former league star Tahu looked hungry after recently returning from an injury which sidelined him for much of the Super 14 tournament.
“He looks like he’s adapted well to the midfield and he’s formed quite a potent combination with Turinui,” Stevenson said.
“They are both strong ball carriers and strong defensive players.
“The biggest threat is going to be the Maori connection.”
Australia have scored almost twice as many tries as the Maori and Stevenson said his team’s attack had been “a bit scratchy” apart from in their last match against Japan.
“Leading into that game we played very well defensively, we only had one try scored against us in the previous three games, but against Japan we leaked three tries in the first half,” Stevenson said.
“Luckily our attack came right and we managed to put on 60 odd points.
“We haven’t quite got it all together yet. We’ve been strong in areas in different games.
“We’ve talked about the need to get all facets of our game right if we are going to have any chance against Australia.”
Stevenson is sweating on the fitness of Glen Horton, who has a hamstring strain.
However, centre Tim Bateman and five-eighth Willie Ripia are both available for selection after each missed the Japan fixture with a hamstring injury.
The only other health worry for the Maori is prop Ben May, who is building up his strength and weight after a viral complaint kept him in bed for the best part of a week.
Stevenson felt the Australians’ execution rather than the under strength nature of their opponents was the reason for their blow-out wins over Tonga and Fiji in the last two weeks.
“Australia just put points on early and some of those teams, when they are out of the hunt, tend to fold,” Stevenson said.
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