Was Shaun Johnson return worth it?

By Michael Burgess

After their historic 30-0 victory over the Kangaroos last year, the 2024 Pacific Championships series was a jolt back to reality for the Kiwis. Michael Burgess assesses the campaign.

Young guns
The Kiwis were missing key men in important positions but unearthed some gems. Fullback Keano Kini was outstanding, with his pace, willingness to run and pure courage. There were a couple of errors but the good far outweighed the bad, as he averaged 265 running metres across the series.

Middle forward Nafahu Whyte was also prominent, with his power, propensity to drag in defenders and ball-playing ability and hooker Phoenix Crossland never stopped working.

And what about Casey McLean? The teenager was relatively unknown coming into the series but not any more, after his four-try debut in the big win over Papua New Guinea, which exhibited his balance, poise and maturity.

Defensive issues
The Kiwis’ attacking game took a while to gel but came right across the final game-and-a-half of the series. From 24-0 down, they scored some superb tries against Tonga and everything clicked again against Papua New Guinea.

But the post-campaign review will focus heavily on defence. They let in some poor tries against Australia – albeit in their first hit-out – but were then porous against Tonga, allowing 24 points in 32 crazy first-half minutes.

They often looked vulnerable – either out wide or up the middle – and shipped 10 tries across the three games, while being fortunate not to concede a few more. It was a marked contrast to 2023, when they held both Samoa and Australia to nil in the last two matches.

Shaun Johnson justifies jump back
Johnson will have few regrets about his Kiwis comeback.

Even if the results didn’t go to plan, he played well and provided some moments to remember. It was quite something from the 34-year-old, who had been enjoying a brief retirement before Jones got in contact. Johnson was too patriotic to turn down the opportunity, even though he was putting his legacy on the line.

The circumstances meant he was playing without pressure in his own mind – “bonus minutes” as he described them – but there is nowhere to hide in test football.

He mostly stood up to the challenge and gave another reminder of just what the Warriors will be missing next season.

Tough initiation for Jones
Stacey Jones faced a steep learning curve as Kiwis head coach.

Not only was he following Michael Maguire – and a 30-0 win over the Kangaroos – but many of his top players fell like dominoes ahead of the series, including Dylan Brown, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Dally M player of the year Jahrome Hughes, while former Golden Boot winner Joseph Manu had gone to rugby.

It meant a first-up test against the Kangaroos with a spine consisting of two debutants and a five-eighth who had played just a single NRL game in the position.

The Kiwis were solid in Christchurch – without quite clicking – before the first-half meltdown against Tonga. But their comeback at Mt Smart was impressive, along with the way they dispatched Papua New Guinea, reflecting well on the spirit and environment within the camp overseen by Jones.

Baffled by the bunker
Though the Kiwis played it down – not wanting to make excuses – the controversial end to the Tonga match was hard to understand.

The New Zealand side looked to have a good case, as Eli Katoa jumped the gun quite obviously at marker on his way to blocking Shaun Johnson’s drop-goal attempt but the Bunker chose to ignore the indiscretion as part of the Kiwis captain’s challenge, rather than award a penalty in front of the posts.

Signs of hope
Despite the disappointing scorelines, there were plenty of important contributions.

Captain James Fisher-Harris led from the front while Joseph Tapine was an impressive lieutenant, as well as scoring one of the great Kiwis tries (against Tonga). Isaiah Papali’i continued his consistent test form and Griffin Neame was solid.

In an unfamilar role, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad improved across the series, while all members of the backline had flashes, from Will Warbrick’s improbable try against Australia to Peta Hiku’s elusive touches at Mt Smart. The Kiwis didn’t have enough players firing all at once against either the Kangaroos or Tonga but there should still be optimism for the future.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission