Maori All Blacks power past outmatched Chile
THE Maori All Blacks were at their running best to finish their threematch Americas tour unbeaten with an emphatic 730 win over Chile at Las Condes.
Following up on their impressive touropening performance against the USA Eagles in Chicago and last week’s win over Brazil in Sao Paulo, the visitors ran in 11 unanswered tries in front of a soldout crowd at Estadio San Carlos De Apoquindo.
In fine conditions conducive to attacking football, fivepointers to frontrower Tyrel, Lomax, No. 7 Mitch Karpik, fullback Josh Ioane and a double to halfback Bryn Hall helped the Maori All Blacks establish an impressive 350 halftime lead.
A length of the field try to replacement back Jonah Lowe continued the rout in the secondhalf, with fellow bench player also Sam Nock claiming a double to see the scoreboard tick past the halfcentury, before Karpik claimed second fivepointer.
Lock Jackson Hemopo crossed out wide in the 77th minute before Karpik scampered over for his third in the shade of fulltime.
Livewire first fiveeighth Otere Black had a strong game
his with the ball in hand and was near perfect off the boot, nailing eight conversions, with Ioane also kicking one goal.
It took some time for the Maori to find their rhythm before Black’s flat pass sent No. 8 Akira Ioane steaming through a gap, with Hall supporting on
The scores
Maori All Blacks 73 (Bryn Hall 2, Tyrel Lomax, Mitch Karpik 3, Josh Ioane, Jonah Lowe, Sam Nock 2, , Jackson Hemopo tries, Otere Black 8, Josh Ioane conversions)
Chile 0
the inside to run in under the posts for the first try after four minutes.
Mistakes spoiled a couple of scoring chances, but the visitors applied pressure through their dominant scrum before Lomax scored from a lineout drive from shortrange to help double their lead.
Patient play from the Maori All Blacks through several phases took its toll on Chile’s defence before Karpik burst through and beat the fullback for the next fivepointer, with Black’s third goal seeing them score at a rate of a point a minute to lead 210.
Chile finally enjoyed some sustained possession close to the opposition line, but handling errors let the Maori All Blacks off the hook and brilliant attack saw them strike back for Hall to claim his double.
They looked set to add a fifth moments later but prop Ross Wright dropped it cold with the line open, before Ioane crossed out wide from Black’s crossfield grubber to send them to the sheds with a commanding lead.
The Kiwis picked up where they left off after the resumption, with Lowe completing a longrange movement to score, while Chile’s frustrations continued when No 10 Santiago Videla missed a penalty goal attempt from close range.Nock then finished a play that began inside the Maori All Blacks’ own half and went through seven pairs of hands for their seventh try inside the last quarter, and added his second to push them out to 540.
Hemopo then started and finished a surging play, combining well with Ioane to score a welldeserved try, before Karpik had the last word with his third in the dying stages. — NZME