New Zealand's Kevin Locke hopeful of his side’s victory in Four Nations - Rugby
While talking to reporters on Tuesday, October 18, Kevin Locke of New Zealand said that he has full faith in his capabilities to defend his team's title, which will be marching in as the defending champions in the Four Nations Series, in the later part of the month.
The prop is well known for his on-field brilliance, with the only try for the Kiwis to his credit during Sunday’s clash against Kangaroos, in Newcastle, which was otherwise an embarrassing defeat of 42- 6 against the Australian side.
Despite the Kiwis recent massive defeat against Kangaroos, their hopes to clinch the Four Nations title this year are not dampened. Meanwhile, they also acknowledge that the results of Sunday’s Test prove that there is plenty of room for improvement in order to strive for the champion’s berth this year.
New Zealand and Australia are scheduled to meet yet again in Warrington, on October 28 and New Zealand’s squad is already accepting that they will have to improve on their existing game in order to achieve their goal.
While talking to reporters, the Kiwis’ star admitted that their Sunday Test added to their existing experience because that game was definitely different from the games they have played previously.
Locke is channelling all his energies to win their next game in Warrington and said, "We learned a lot from the game in Newcastle. It was another step higher from the NRL. It was faster than anything I have experienced. The heat didn't help, and the way the Aussies kept moving our defence across the park made us really tired. It was a whole new level of footy, the nerves and the buzz just get to you and I can't wait to play again and hope I can do my part but, as a team, we need to defend better."
The prop pointed out that New Zealand's weaker area in the Newcastle showdown was their poor defence which completely collapsed against Kangaroos. If Kiwis tighten up their defence for their second match against Australia, they can easily have a much smoother ride through the remaining competition.
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