OMEN
09-23-2007, 10:12 PM
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HALFBACK ALL THE WAY: All Black halfback Byron Kelleher dives over the line to score in the tackle of Scotland's Scott Lawson.
Unbeaten, and untested, the All Blacks's 40-0 canter past Scotland's backup troops at Murrayfield today has done little to ease the sneaking suspicion that the Rugby World Cup favourites remain a long way off their A game.
Who knows, they may not need it to prevail at this event, and end the 20-year wait for a second global title. But they just may, with a finishing trifecta of France, Australia and South Africa likely awaiting in the knockout stages. Today's fare did little to encourage any feeling that the on-switch is about to be toggled.
The All Blacks debuted their new grey change strip for the first time in this, their third pool match of the Cup (against a Scotland side also featuring a fair dollop of the same colour), and then served up a performance that featured several shades of grey.
There were six tries scored, but double that coughed up in handling errors as Graham Henry's men produced a strangely off-colour performance.
Perhaps it's being overly picky to chastise them for their lapses, for they dominated this match from go to whoa and did manage to keep their first clean-sheet of the tournament with a solid defensive display.
There were some bright spots, too, with loose forwards Rodney So'oialo and Chris Masoe getting plenty of go-forward, Reuben Thorne appearing to handle his locking responsibilities well enough, Ali Williams weighing in with one of those high-energy efforts of his and wing Doug Howlett continuing his golden run with two tries to skip clear as the All Blacks' all-time record try-scorer.
In the end it was mission accomplished, but barely anything more at a sold-out venue (official attendance 64,558) abuzz with anticipation, but ultimately served up only snapshots of what these New Zealanders are capable of.
The amount of errors that crept back into the New Zealand game will also no doubt concern coach Henry and his lieutenants.
The handling was, in a word, shocking. Too many spills came right when the pressure had the Scots at breaking points and in the end it was hard to escape the feeling the New Zealanders left nearly as many points as they scored out on the track.
The victory did come at a cost, too with the All Blacks now officially down to no fit fullbacks as Leon MacDonald joined Mils Muliaina (hamstring) on the injured list when he limped off at the end of the first quarter with what appeared to be a hip problem.
That will concern Henry, even if Nick Evans did slot in well enough at the back in a position where he started his test career.
Romania next presents no immediate issues on the selection front, but the quarter-final will roll round soon enough and there may be a few anxious moments in the meantime.
It was a funny old first quarter of an hour from the All Blacks, the feeling-out process seeing them stone cold drop a couple of the simplest passes you'll ever see grassed this side of Saturday morning kids footy, yet still strike twice for two crisply taken tries, and an early 12-0 lead.
The first came just four minutes or so in, not long after Sitiveni Sivivatu had fumbled a brilliant crossfield kick from Dan Carter that must have seen his eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
Not long after, from a 5m scrum, So'oialo and Richie McCaw worked the slickest of 8-7 moves off the back to put the skipper over untouched.
Ali Williams was the next transgressor, his butterfingers nipping in the bud a likely move from a quick throw-in, but again it didn't take long for the All Blacks to make amends.
This time it was Howlett doing the finishing, via good back-of-the-lineout ball and sweet hands through the backs – the touchdown, his 47th in test rugby, taking him past Christian Cullen's previous record mark.
The final try of the half for the not-quite-humming All Blacks came seven minutes from the break when a rumbling Masoe run set up a ruck just five metres out and halfback Byron Kelleher didn't need a second invitation to muscle over on the blindside.
If New Zealand's sizeable representation among the fans in the stands were a little unsure what to make of the first 40, their collective brow would have furrowed even further as the All Blacks went through the entire third quarter without adding to their try tally.
Opportunities aplenty presented, but all too often inattention to detail cost them dearly as errors came all too frequently.
The drought finally broke 22 minutes into the second spell when lock Williams, one of the bright lights on a largely unimpressive day for the Blacks individually, did extremely well to power his way through three defenders for his side's fourth try of the afternoon.
Carter added a fifth three minutes later when he swooped on spilt ball midfield and had too much gas for the cover defence, and Howlett had time to notch his second when substitute hooker Andrew Hore did the hard yards to put him clear on an angled run to the line.
And that was that. Six tries and 40 unanswered points on the board, but many more questions remaining about an All Blacks side still a long, long way from their best.
Scotland 0:
New Zealand 40: Richie McCaw, Doug Howlett 2, Byron Kelleher, Ali Williams, Dan Carter tries; Carter 2 cons, 2 pens.
HT: 0-20.
VITAL STATISTICS:
Rucks and mauls: NZ 87 Sc 58
Turnovers won: NZ 8 Sc 4
Missed tackles: NZ 5 Sc 28
Linebreaks: NZ 4 Sc 0
Possession: NZ 58% Sc 42%
Territory: NZ 68% Sc 32%
Errors: NZ 20 Sc 16.
Fairfax Media
HALFBACK ALL THE WAY: All Black halfback Byron Kelleher dives over the line to score in the tackle of Scotland's Scott Lawson.
Unbeaten, and untested, the All Blacks's 40-0 canter past Scotland's backup troops at Murrayfield today has done little to ease the sneaking suspicion that the Rugby World Cup favourites remain a long way off their A game.
Who knows, they may not need it to prevail at this event, and end the 20-year wait for a second global title. But they just may, with a finishing trifecta of France, Australia and South Africa likely awaiting in the knockout stages. Today's fare did little to encourage any feeling that the on-switch is about to be toggled.
The All Blacks debuted their new grey change strip for the first time in this, their third pool match of the Cup (against a Scotland side also featuring a fair dollop of the same colour), and then served up a performance that featured several shades of grey.
There were six tries scored, but double that coughed up in handling errors as Graham Henry's men produced a strangely off-colour performance.
Perhaps it's being overly picky to chastise them for their lapses, for they dominated this match from go to whoa and did manage to keep their first clean-sheet of the tournament with a solid defensive display.
There were some bright spots, too, with loose forwards Rodney So'oialo and Chris Masoe getting plenty of go-forward, Reuben Thorne appearing to handle his locking responsibilities well enough, Ali Williams weighing in with one of those high-energy efforts of his and wing Doug Howlett continuing his golden run with two tries to skip clear as the All Blacks' all-time record try-scorer.
In the end it was mission accomplished, but barely anything more at a sold-out venue (official attendance 64,558) abuzz with anticipation, but ultimately served up only snapshots of what these New Zealanders are capable of.
The amount of errors that crept back into the New Zealand game will also no doubt concern coach Henry and his lieutenants.
The handling was, in a word, shocking. Too many spills came right when the pressure had the Scots at breaking points and in the end it was hard to escape the feeling the New Zealanders left nearly as many points as they scored out on the track.
The victory did come at a cost, too with the All Blacks now officially down to no fit fullbacks as Leon MacDonald joined Mils Muliaina (hamstring) on the injured list when he limped off at the end of the first quarter with what appeared to be a hip problem.
That will concern Henry, even if Nick Evans did slot in well enough at the back in a position where he started his test career.
Romania next presents no immediate issues on the selection front, but the quarter-final will roll round soon enough and there may be a few anxious moments in the meantime.
It was a funny old first quarter of an hour from the All Blacks, the feeling-out process seeing them stone cold drop a couple of the simplest passes you'll ever see grassed this side of Saturday morning kids footy, yet still strike twice for two crisply taken tries, and an early 12-0 lead.
The first came just four minutes or so in, not long after Sitiveni Sivivatu had fumbled a brilliant crossfield kick from Dan Carter that must have seen his eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
Not long after, from a 5m scrum, So'oialo and Richie McCaw worked the slickest of 8-7 moves off the back to put the skipper over untouched.
Ali Williams was the next transgressor, his butterfingers nipping in the bud a likely move from a quick throw-in, but again it didn't take long for the All Blacks to make amends.
This time it was Howlett doing the finishing, via good back-of-the-lineout ball and sweet hands through the backs – the touchdown, his 47th in test rugby, taking him past Christian Cullen's previous record mark.
The final try of the half for the not-quite-humming All Blacks came seven minutes from the break when a rumbling Masoe run set up a ruck just five metres out and halfback Byron Kelleher didn't need a second invitation to muscle over on the blindside.
If New Zealand's sizeable representation among the fans in the stands were a little unsure what to make of the first 40, their collective brow would have furrowed even further as the All Blacks went through the entire third quarter without adding to their try tally.
Opportunities aplenty presented, but all too often inattention to detail cost them dearly as errors came all too frequently.
The drought finally broke 22 minutes into the second spell when lock Williams, one of the bright lights on a largely unimpressive day for the Blacks individually, did extremely well to power his way through three defenders for his side's fourth try of the afternoon.
Carter added a fifth three minutes later when he swooped on spilt ball midfield and had too much gas for the cover defence, and Howlett had time to notch his second when substitute hooker Andrew Hore did the hard yards to put him clear on an angled run to the line.
And that was that. Six tries and 40 unanswered points on the board, but many more questions remaining about an All Blacks side still a long, long way from their best.
Scotland 0:
New Zealand 40: Richie McCaw, Doug Howlett 2, Byron Kelleher, Ali Williams, Dan Carter tries; Carter 2 cons, 2 pens.
HT: 0-20.
VITAL STATISTICS:
Rucks and mauls: NZ 87 Sc 58
Turnovers won: NZ 8 Sc 4
Missed tackles: NZ 5 Sc 28
Linebreaks: NZ 4 Sc 0
Possession: NZ 58% Sc 42%
Territory: NZ 68% Sc 32%
Errors: NZ 20 Sc 16.
Fairfax Media