Ruthless All Blacks compound Canada’s misery

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Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett all scored as the All Blacks cruised to a one-sided 63-0 victory over Canada at the Oita Stadium on Wednesday.

The All Blacks had the bonus-point try wrapped up in the first half as they opened up a 28-0 lead with hardly raising a sweat. The same pattern followed in the second half, with the reigning champions running at will to seal a commanding triumph. The result takes New Zealand up to second in the Pool B standings, in between the first-ranked Italy and third-placed Springboks, who will do battle on Friday. 

Although coach Steve Hansen had made a total of 11 changes to New Zealand’s starting lineup for this match, they were never going to be troubled by Canada, who simply had no answer to the All Blacks’ pace and power.

The Barrett brothers made history when they became the first set of three siblings to start in a Rugby World Cup game together, as well as all score a try in the same match at the tournament.

Kieran Read and Jordie Barrett both scored within the opening 10 minutes – an early sign of things to come – while Sonny Bill Williams and Beauden Barrett then dotted down to bag the bonus point by the 36th minute.

There was no reprieve for the hapless Canada after the break as Rieko Ioane, Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell added their names to the scoresheet in a period of ruthless dominance and clinical execution soon after the restart.

Secure in the knowledge that they will come away with a victory – not that it was ever in doubt – coach Steve Hansen made multiple changes to give his fringe players an extended run. And one of those substitutes, scrumhalf Brad Weber, made an immediately impact as he complete a try-double in quick succession.

The final quarter of the encounter degenerated into a dreary affair, during which the All Blacks made a lot of handling errors. But credit must also go to Canada for succeeding in keeping New Zealand at bay in the last 20 minutes, a period when they are usually at their best.

New Zealand next take on Namibia on 6 October, while Canada are up against the Springboks two days later on the 8th.

New Zealand – Tries: Kieran Read, Jordie Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams, Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Scott Barrett, Shannon Frizell, Brad Weber (2). Conversions: Richie Mo’unga (9).

New Zealand – 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Atu Moli.
Subs: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ofa Tuungafasi, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Ryan Crotty, 23 Ben Smith.

Canada – 15 Patrick Parfrey, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Tyler Ardron (c), 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Matt Heaton, 5 Conor Keys, 4 Evan Olmstead, 3 Cole Keith, 2 Eric Howard, 1 Djustice Sears-Duru.
Subs: 16 Andrew Quattrin, 17 Hubert Buydens, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Mike Sheppard, 20 Josh Larsen, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Taylor Paris, 23 Andrew Coe.

Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images

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Mariette Adams