The All Blacks steadied the nerves of a nation with an emphatic 37-17 win over France at Eden Park yesterday to secure a place in the World Cup quarter-finals as Pool A winners with a game to spare.
Haunted by the memories of premature exits at the hands of France in the 1999 and 2007 tournaments, Kiwis had been jittery all week at the prospect of facing France.
However, tries from Adam Thomson, Cory Jane, Sonny Bill Williams and two from fullback Israel Dagg, as well as 12 points from the boot of Dan Carter, allowed them to bury the ghosts of past World Cup failures for the group stage at least.
Photo: Reuters
The New Zealand pack, led by Richie McCaw in his 100th Test with lock Sam Whitelock also oustanding, overpowered the French in the scrum and harried them in the loose to allow their backs the perfect platform to display their skills.
“We had to absorb a fair bit early on and I am proud the boys did that and when we got our opportunities we put points on the board,” McCaw said. “In big tests that’s what you have got to do, so very happy.”
For the first nine minutes, it had looked like Eden Park might possibly experience a shock to rank alongside Ireland’s victory over Australia on Sept. 17, as the French took the early initiative and camped in the New Zealand half.
Photo: Reuters
However, a rampaging charge from center Ma’a Nonu in the 10th minute turned the tide with No. 8 Adam Thomson reaping the benefits to cross in the corner for the game’s opening try.
Just 11 minutes later and the All Blacks were 19-0 up.
Cory Jane scored the second try when came off his wing to take a neat inside pop pass from scrumhalf Piri Weepu and dash 40m through the cover defense to touch down.
Four minutes later, it was the turn of flyhalf Carter to make the line-break and he drew the final defender to allow Dagg to touch down unopposed.
Rattled after the three-try blitz, France did manage to regroup and held their own for the remainder of the half with scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili finally getting some points on the board with a penalty just before the break.
However, the All Blacks came out firing after halftime and within a minute another Carter line-break got them within 5m of the French line, before Dagg danced his way through the defense to secure the bonus point with his second try.
Carter, who had converted three of the four tries, added a penalty five minutes later to extend the lead to 29-3, but gifted France their first try when his long pass was intercepted by center Maxime Mermoz in the 54th minute.
New Zealand’s golden boy made some amends 10 minutes later with a slick drop goal to extend the lead to 32-10 and effectively end any French hopes of a comeback.
France, whose gamble on playing scrumhalf Morgan Parra at flyhalf did not pay off, restored some pride with a try from Parra’s replacement Francois Trinh-Duc after a series of 5m scrums four minutes from time.
However, the All Blacks hammered home their superiority immediately with Sonny Bill Williams, on as a replacement for Jane, going over in the corner after a superb sweeping move.
France, who play Tonga in their final pool match on Saturday, are still likely to finish second in the group and reach the last eight.
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