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Regional | Kiwis

Kiwis prepare for England during Dubai stopover

It's been a week since the Kiwis side departed for their two-test series against England, with a stopover in the desert of Dubai.

The team are still buzzing over their 26-24 win against Australia and are looking to use that as fuel for their upcoming games.

“Our boys were pretty high after that win,” says player Adam Blair.

“A nice way to start off our three tests over here was stopping in Dubai and bringing the team closer together, enjoying ourselves as a group."

"I didn’t jump on a camel, but it was a good experience.  I’ve never been to the desert before, but to be able to sit out there with the group of boys and some random people was fun and enjoyable,” he says.

The win has brought the team even closer together.

“I thought that the team did the little things really good,” says assistant coach Stacey Jones.

"I thought they ran harder with the ball and put pressure on Australia.  Our mindset shouldn’t change too much, we know coming over here is a little bit different so we have to tighten things up there, but it’s been a couple of weeks now and everyone is just excited to put on the boots and getting out there again and giving it a go.”

Blair says Kiwis coach Michael Maguire is looking forward to the opportunity to create a winning environment.

“He's wanting to install a winning culture.”

“Everything is about winning in this group.  I thought as a group we were really professional leading into that match and I think it showed in that game," says Blair.

"We did all the little things right leading into it, individually and as a group, and we really put on a strong performance, but then we let ourselves down in the end.  A lot of learning from it, but we're taking heaps of positives to prepare for our three test matches over here.”

But there's no dwelling on the past, as the team undertake their first training to prepare for their match against England this coming weekend.