New Zealand ran in seven tries as they dispatched Georgia 43-10 for a third straight pool win, becoming the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup.
However, a sloppy, inaccurate display on Friday — full of uncharacteristic errors — was far from a vintage All Blacks performance and the defending champions are still to discover their fluency two weeks into the tournament.
An almost full-strength New Zealand were expected to put away a weakened Georgia lineup with ease and they scored four tries inside 22 minutes to secure the bonus point — the first try coming from fit-again winger Waisake Naholo after just 1 minute, 12 seconds.
Photo: AFP
However, from then on, it was mistake after mistake by the All Blacks, with star flyhalf Dan Carter particularly culpable.
There were some jeers inside the Millennium Stadium when Ben Smith kicked to touch to end the game, and celebrations were muted.
Made to work hard for a 26-16 win over Argentina and then frustrated by Namibia in a 58-14 victory last week, the All Blacks wanted to find some fluency in their first-ever Test against Georgia.
It did not happen.
“Maybe we were trying too hard,” said New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, who hobbled off late in the second half.
They turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, mostly through sloppy handling. Carter only kicked four of his conversions and shook his head near the end after missing touch from a penalty.
Georgia had the better of the scrum, and the fifth-minute try New Zealand conceded was sloppy, with some players virtually stopping as they thought there had been a knock-on.
Georgia fullback Beka Tsiklauri kicked forward from just inside the All Blacks half, collecting the ball and starting to celebrate 10m before he had reached the line.
That try received the biggest cheer of the night.
Naholo exposed a hole in the Georgia defense with his first touch of the ball, running 60m and scoring between the posts.
Two months ago, his World Cup ambitions looked to be over after breaking his right leg on Test debut against Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
Opposite winger Julian Savea scored two tries in nine minutes, ending up with a hat-trick, and hooker Dane Coles ran through for the fourth try — and the bonus point — but New Zealand were held scoreless for the rest of the half.
Only three more tries came in the second half, through Kieran Read, Savea and replacement Malakai Fekitoa.
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