Final fling by NZ M¯aori towers alongside Andes
New Zealand Ma¯ori powered past Chile to wrap up their of tour the Americas with an emphatic 73-0 victory in Las Condes yesterday.
Chile proved to be the weakest of the Ma¯ori’s three opponents this month after recording wins over the United States and Brazil.
They ruthlessly ran in 11 tries against the spirited Co´ ndores, whose heart wasn’t in question, but the result was never in doubt.
The Ma¯ori’s third leg of their November tour was, however, another testing cauldron of noise beneath an imposing range of the Andes mountains against a side ranked 30th in the world and fourth below Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil in the South American standings.
There was a point to prove after a fairly unconvincing 35-3 win against Brazil in Sao Paulo last weekend and several members of the Ma¯ ori’s talented team – notably hat-trick hero Mitch Karpik and the enigma that is Akira Ioane – were particularly impressive, although the opposition wasn’t of the highest standard.
A packed out Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo belted out the Chilean anthem as the players lined up before kick-off in front of a passionate and loud home crowd, creating a feverish atmosphere for this group of promising Kiwis to strut their stuff in an environment far removed from the comforts of home.
The locals were willing their side on, begging for a try to savour in probably the biggest rugby occasion in Chilean history and they came close in second-half spells but for some formidable defence from Ioane, who turned over three successive Chilean attacks in one superbly skilled stint of defending.
The Ma¯ ori scrum that was at one point shunted backwards by Brazil was dominant against Chile’s pack and the New Zealand side’s slick handling caused the Co´ ndores all sort of problems.
Chile managed to disrupt the Ma¯ ori’s rhythm in periods of a onesided contest but not often enough to halt their considerable momentum in charging towards the 70-point mark despite more offloads going to ground in the second half.