The AFL Fijian Tribe team will be going up against favourites New Zealand in the International Cup on Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia.

Fiji got off to a good start after thrashing France 80-15 in their first game on Sunday.

Coach/development officer Simon Highfield said the real test for the men’s team will be against New Zealand.

“It was really good to get a good first game in the tournament and to get the boys fired up,” Highfield said.

“For us, however, we have a long way to go and the true test for us will be our next game against the favourites to win the tournament; New Zealand.

“Their score against Nauru was overwhelming and they are a really good side with a good amount of Australian players in the team.

“Of course we will go over footage of their performance and figure out how we can beat them but we are expecting a really tough game.”

If Fiji wants to stand a chance of competing against one of the best in the competition, they will need to step up from their last game.

“Even though we had a convincing win over France, we really need to improve on a lot if we want to be competitive against New Zealand,” he said.

“Discipline plays a huge part in the game and the boys need to remember that they need to be calm and focused on the field.

“The weather has been freezing and something the players are not used to but we are making sure that they warm up and get the muscles moving and that they are warm every night.”

Fiji will play New Zealand on Wednesday at 10:30am.

Edited by Osea Bola

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