New Zealand overcome careless start to dominate plucky Uruguay

New Zealand 73 Uruguay 0

New Zealand duly qualified for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals with an erratic display initially that relied heavily on individual flair rather than cohesion and coherence in terms of their attacking patterns. Scrum dominance was a major boon in terms of penalties and as a launch platform for tries.

Whatever was addressed at half-time worked to a point as the All Blacks were more measured and ruthless after the interval, tagging on seven tries to the four they managed in the opening half. All Blacks coach Ian Foster won’t be unduly concerned knowing that with the players to come back his team will be a different prospect, when fully loaded.

Who they’ll face will be determined by the outcome of Ireland’s clash with Scotland in the Stade de France on Saturday night. A reunion with Joe Schmidt would provide a compelling narrative but only one half of that potential assignation has been completed.

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Uruguay’s pluck was admirable, but they were undone by basic mistakes, when they did have opportunities in the first half to make the All Blacks even more jittery than the already fitful nature of their patterns indicated.

They lost nothing in defeat, having shown many qualities in the tournament and the hope is that World Rugby doesn’t consign them and other Tier 2 nations to the periphery when the global fixture schedule is redrawn in the future.

The South American side made a composed start to the match, won a lineout, went through 12 phases taking play into the New Zealand 22 before a strip tackle allowed the All Blacks to hoof the ball downfield. Their first scrum put-in was solid but three times they had the ball turned over at rucks.

Uruguay came into the game with a burgeoning reputation at the breakdown. Manuel Ardao, set a new World Cup record with five turnovers in the first 45 minutes of the Italy game, and the 25-year-old who completed his thesis for his architecture degree earlier this year, added to that tally on a couple of occasions in the opening 40-minutes.

The blindside flanker thought he had given his team a sensational lead on 12-minutes but was denied a try by an Anton Lienert-Brown tackle and a foot in touch, following a brilliant break in the build-up by right wing Gaston Mieres.

New Zealand had been so careless in possession during that first quarter, scrumhalf Cam Roigard losing the ball over the line while the passing was unsympathetic and inaccurate. Twice the All Blacks were penalised for neck rolls, the second occasion cost them another try, Richie Mo’unga the culprit, as Damian McKenzie’s effort was chalked off.

The fullback was not to be denied a couple of minutes later when his footwork allowed him to carry a tackler over the line. An unforced error from outhalf Felipe Etcheverry gave the All Blacks another plum scrum position and this time Mo’unga scampered over, converting his own try.

While there was so much to admire in Uruguay’s moxie and endeavour, kicking a penalty to the corner, a raft of basic handling errors underlined that ambition, while naivety in backline defence and scrum woes gave New Zealand the latitude to build their way into the game.

Will Jordan benefited from McKenzie’s lovely grubber kick and one-handed offload to dot down while Roigard’s try, the fourth and bonus point one, guaranteed New Zealand a passage to the knockout phase of the tournament.

The performance was decidedly non-vintage in the opening 40-minutes, but the half-time recalibration had the desired effect, albeit factoring in playing against an increasingly tired and ragged Uruguay, fatigued by all the defending.

Fletcher Newell crossed for a try, Leicester Fainga’anuku added a brace, McKenzie and Jordan each scored their second tries of the match, to take the score to 59-0, with a little over 10-minutes left. New Zealand’s 10 try of the night was scored by Tamati Williams, the 11th Fainga’anuku’s hat-trick.

The New Zealand bench got some decent game time and provided the team with increased energy and a focused dynamism, Beauden Barrett and McKenzie swapped over in the outhalf role after Mo’unga went off, all of which piled more and more misery on Uruguay.

Scoring sequence – 19 mins: McKenzie try, Mo’unga conversion, 7-0; 24: Mo’unga try, Mo’unga conversion, 14-0; 32: Jordan try, Mo’unga conversion, 21-0; 37: Roigard try, 26-0. Half-time: 26-0. 44: Newell try, 31-0; 49: Fainga’anuku try, Mo’unga conversion, 38-0; 52: McKenzie try, Mo’unga conversion, 45-0; 64: Jordan try, McKenzie conversion, 52-0; 68: Fainga’anuku try, McKenzie conversion, 59-0; 72: Williams try, B Barrett conversion, 66-0; 78: Fainga’anuku try, Barrett conversion, 73-0.

New Zealand: D McKenzie; W Jordan, A Lienert-Brown, J Barrett, L Fainga’anuku; R Mo’unga, C Roigard; O Tu’ungafasi, C Taylor, T Lomax; S Whitelock, T Vaa’i; S Frizell, S Cane (capt), L Jacobson. Replacements: F Newell for Lomax 9 mins; S Taukei’aho for Taylor 46 mins; T Williams for Tu’ungafasi 46 mins; E Blackadder for Frizell 53 mins; F Christie for Roigard 53 mins; C Clarke for J Barrett 53 mins; S Barrett for Whitelock 62 mins; B Barrett for Mo’unga 63 mins; Tu’ungafasi for Newell 73 mins.

Uruguay: R Silva; G Mieres, T Inciarte, A Vilaseca (capt), N Freitas; F Etcheverry, S Arata; M Sanguinetti, G Kessler, D Arbelo; I Dotti, M Leindekar; M Ardao, L Bianchi, M Diana. Replacements: J Manuel Rodríguez for Dotti 47 mins; F Berchesi for Etcheverry 49 mins; I Peculo for Arbelo 58 mins; JM Alonso for Mieres 58 mins; A Ormaechea for Arata 60 mins; M Benitez for Sanguinetti 63 mins; G Pujadas for Kessler 63 mins.

Referee: W Barnes (England)