Maori All Blacks KO the Canucks
The Maori All Blacks battered a flaky Canada side in a big win in Vancouver yesterday.
It was one-way traffic for the full 80 minutes in British Columbia as the Maori ran in seven unanswered tries, accounting for a Canadian side missing several overseasbased players.
Chiefs midfielder Charlie Ngatai impressed in an unfamiliar fullback role, scoring a try and dropping in and out of the attack at will. The Maori forwards were also far too strong at the scrum and lineout.
With the Canucks dispatched, Clayton McMillan’s team now head across the Atlantic for next week’s clash with the French Barbarians in Bordeaux.
They’re likely to present more of a challenge than the Canadians who have slumped to a record-low 24th in the world, behind such lightweights as Germany, Hong Kong, Namibia, Russia and Spain.
Bay of Plenty coach McMillan replaced Colin Cooper, who stepped down after four years in the role to focus on his new job mentoring the Chiefs next season.
Under the roof of BC Place, which features an artificial turf, the Maori had perfect conditions.
The Maori enjoyed almost 70 per cent of territory in the opening stanza as their speed and precision befuddled Les Rouges.
Yet it took some time for their dominance to show on the scoreboard.
Aided by the boot of goal-kicking wing Brock Staller — and by Dan Pryor’s yellow card — the Canadians remained within one point at the 25-minute mark, having conceded the match’s opening try to a speedy Ambrose Curtis.
But a barnstorming Akira Ioane effort subsequently put daylight between the sides, and a late Tom Franklin try sent the Maori All Blacks into the sheds 27-9 ahead.
Appearing set to dominate the second half, the Maori All Blacks again found themselves quelled by a yellow card, this time to Tim Bateman for a high tackle.
Yet the Canucks couldn’t take advantage, and instead conceded a fourth try in the 54th minute to a counter-attacking Ngatai.
The return of Bateman duly cemented his side’s dominance, while a sin-binning to Northlandbased Canadian lock Josh Larsen served to make matters worse for the home side.
Additional straightforward tries to Shaun Stevenson, Jackson Garden-Bachop and Sean Wainui closed out the one-sided match.
Canada are now faced with a two-match World Cup qualification series against Uruguay in January and February.
NZ Maori 51 (A. Curtis, A. Ioane, T. Franklin, C. Ngatai, S. Stevenson, J. Garden-Bachop, S. Wainui tries; I. West 4 cons, 2 pens, Garden Bachop con) Canada 9 (B. Staller 3 pens). Halftime: 27-9. — NZN