Daniel Carter scored three tries among 29 points as World Cup favorite New Zealand beat a defiant Canada 64-13 in a one-off rugby Test yesterday.
Canada shocked the All Blacks with an intercept try to fullback Mike Pyke midway through the first spell at Waikato Stadium and trailed by only six points nearing halftime, confounding predictions of a New Zealand cakewalk.
New Zealand eventually overcame complacency, and lack of combination, to win by 10 tries to one, running in six of those tries -- including three to Carter -- in a one-sided second half.
PHOTO: AFP
Carter scored tries in the first, 14th and 23rd minutes of the second spell and landed seven conversions from nine attempts to lead the All Blacks' scoring and to lighten embarrassment caused by their meager 26-13 lead at halftime.
Prop John Schwalger scored a try on Test debut, hooker Andrew Hore and flanker Chris Masoe scored their first Test tries, Luke McAlister passed 100 points in Tests and Sitiveni Sivivatu scored his 17th try in 15 Tests on a night of minor milestones for New Zealand.
Carter's hat trick -- only the second by a New Zealand flyhalf in Test matches -- was the game's individual highlight, but it was Canada's resolute defense, and its refusal to make the All Blacks' win easy, that was its most distinctive feature.
Canada's defense was built on equal parts of courage and intelligence. They studied New Zealand's 42-11 and 61-10 wins over France over the past two weekends and created a solid, responsive and resilient defensive screen, which frustrated the All Blacks.
While the Canadians described the All Blacks as a "mythical" team, they refused to be cowed by reputation alone. They were as physical as New Zealand at breakdowns, used their minority share of possession with discrimination and skill and finished with their most meritorious result in four official Tests against New Zealand since 1999.
Pyke's 21st-minute try will likely take on legendary status among Canadian rugby fans. The tall, athletic winger swooped on a long pass from Carter 10m from Canada's line, dashed into open space and managed to outpace Sivivatu in a 90m sprint to the line.
Australian-born winger James Pritchard converted the try and kicked two penalties as Canada scored all of its points by halftime.
"In the first half I thought we came out very strong," Canadian captain Morgan Williams said. "Our defense at times, I thought, put the All Blacks on the back foot."
"I'm proud of our guys," he said. "When you play opposition like the All Blacks it's hard to expect to win but I thought we put in a good effort today. We'll take a lot from this game. We just need to shore up a few things come our next game and come the World Cup."
New Zealand's performance, particularly its diffidence in the loose, did little to build its confidence ahead of its first Tri-Nations match against South Africa in Durban next weekend.
Though it sent out most of its second string on yesterday, including two players on debut, it was expected to win with far more ease and conviction than it managed.
The All Blacks, who scored their first try through Sivivatu after only four minutes, seemed to expect tries to come as a matter of course and had to be shaken into action by Canada's stern defiance.
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