Junior Kiwis off to a good start on
Australian Tour

The Junior Kiwis got off with a great start to their Australian tour when they took on the Sydney Roosters Development Squad yesterday evening (Tuesday 19 July) at Wentworth Park Greyhound Complex.

They played a particularly strong first half, with some good combinations and great yardage plays. First half tries were run in by Miguel Start, Daniel O?Regan and captain Sam Rapira but the highlight of the half was an 80 metre run by Wellington?s Joshua Davis who offloaded and lead to a try for winger Iwi Hauraki.

With a 22 ? Nil lead at halftime to the JK?s both sides made many changes so as to give all 21 players a run. This did, however lead to some loss of cohesion and structure by the NZ squad which the Roosters capitalised on running in 2 late tries. It going to be too late for the Roosters as NZ Warriors development players Cooper Vuna and Sonny Fa?i touched down bringing the game to a close at 34 - 10.

Back rower, Scott Jones had a good all round game and kicked 5 from 6 attempts at goal. Other stand-out players were Matthew Parata from Keebra Park High School, Auckland?s Darin Kingi and front rower Roger Tafua from Canterbury.

The Junior Kiwis will travel to Melbourne tomorrow (Thursday 21 July) in preparation for their first test match against the Australian Schoolboys at Olympic Park on Sunday 24 July. They are playing the curtain raiser to the Storm v Roosters and kick off at 12.40pm (2.40pm NZ time).

RESULTS:

JUNIOR KIWIS 34 Miguel Start, Iwi Hauraki, Daniel O?Regan, Sam Rapira, Cooper Vuna, Sonny Fa?i : Tries Scott Jones (5) : Goals

ROOSTERS 10

Halftime Score: 22 ? 0 To The JK?s