New Zealand - 68 Canada - 6 After a week in which the wisdom of pitting amateurs against well-paid professionals was constantly questioned, Canada gave the World Cup organisers some desperately needed succour yesterday.
The scoreline would suggest otherwise: 10 unanswered tries and a huge score indicate a one-sided rout but the reality was the converse as Canada became the first minnows this tournament to take the game to a top team.
They not only contested resourcefully for possession, finding weaknesses in New Zealand's lineout, they also held on to the ball for the most part. In one first-half attack they took play through 13 phases and kept possession for nearly two minutes; they may have only made 10 yards but it was a marked contrast to the opening weekend when the developing nations hoofed what little ball they had away and concentrated their not considerable efforts on defence.
Canada were culpable here in Melbourne against Wales last Sunday when they adopted a kicking game and ended up kicking themselves. Had they played then as they did yesterday they would have pushed the Welsh far closer, but the quarter-finals are now a distant dream for them, with Italy next in Canberra on Tuesday.
Canada did not have one professional player in their starting line-up, but it was hard for most of the first 30 minutes to tell who were the World Cup favourites, though coach John Mitchell insisted the toil was just what his side required. "It was exactly the work-out we needed," said the New Zealand coach. "Canada threw everything at us and we had to work for our tries."
The wing Mils Muliaina, who played at full-back against Italy last weekend, scored four tries and Caleb Ralph on the opposite wing scored two, as did the number eight Rodney So'oialo, with the others going to Kees Meeuws and Nonu.
But Canada despite their defiance were never more than cannon-fodder and Mitchell's problems are from within rather than without. The full back, Ben Blair, is likely to be ruled out of the World Cup tomorrow after aggravating a neck injury in training this week, and the scrum-half replacement yesterday, Byron Kelleher, strained a hamstring warming up at half-time.
Blair was replaced on the bench by a prop, Greg Somerville, because the only fit back available was the scrumhalf Justin Marshall. The 20-year-old Auckland full back, Ben Atiga, is standing by to join the squad after Mitchell refused to consider the experienced and Munster-bound Christian Cullen, whose autobiography, believed to be critical of Mitchell and his assistant Robbie Deans, is published on Monday.
There were times yesterday when the All Blacks needed players of such experience. The game's most revealing statistic was not the 12 minutes that Canada spent in possession but the 17 handling errors forced on the opposition by the amateurs.
New Zealand are fallible, and they may rely on the goal-kicking of Daniel Carter in the knockout stages.
NEW ZEALAND: MacDonald (Hewlett, 71); Muliaina, Nonu, Carter, Ralph; Spencer, Devine; Hoeft, Hammett (Flynn, 70), Meeuws, Thorn, Jack, Thorne (capt), Holah (McCaw, 70), So'oialo (Braid, 70). Tries: Muliaina 4, So'oialo 2, Ralph 2, Meeuws, Nonu. Cons: Carter 9. Yellow card: Jack, 80.
CANADA: Fyffe; King, Cannon (Witkowski, 71), Di Girolamo, Fauth; Barker (Smith, 71), Fairhurst; Tkachuk, Abrams, Cooke (Snow, 55), Cudmore, Knaggs, Banks (capt; Yukes, 47), Douglas (Van Staveren, 55), Reid. Penalties: Barker 2.
Referee: A Spreadbury (England).
