International scores
and beating a game-high seven defenders as his took the ball to the line and created options.
Sure, there was the odd error – like missing touch from a penalty early on – but he certainly enjoyed the opportunity to run the cutter in just his sixth test, and what was his second start, after his outing against Argentina in New Plymouth during the Rugby Championship.
‘‘Yeah it was awesome to get some minutes and it’s awesome to start a game and take control,’’ the 24-year-old said. ‘‘It’s been a while since I’ve got a full game, so that was awesome for me. A lot of the goalkicks were easy tonight, so it wasn’t too bad.’’
Mo’unga said they always expected Japan to bring plenty of line speed, and that’s why the tactic of kicking in behind them became prominent. The Brave Blossoms also brought plenty on attack – scoring five tries – and that’s something the All Blacks have only conceded on 11 occasions (one of those times leaking six).
‘‘Some of the tries that they scored were off our mistakes, so the positive way to look at it is that if we just fix that then we’re alright,’’ Mo’unga said. ‘‘We expected an awesome Japanese team. They’re such a hard team to stop when they have that momentum and when we can’t slow their ball down, it just shows how much of a threat they are.
‘‘It’s tough playing away from home here in Japan, and when they have the momentum the crowd’s very vocal and it can be quite daunting. It was an awesome effort from the lads the way they came back.’’
10 Africa 11 New Zealand 69
In Tokyo: (N Laumape 3, G Bridge 2, D Coles, R Mo’unga, T Tahuriorangi, W Naholo, M Proctor tries; Mo’unga 7 con, pen, Jordie Barrett con), (T Lafaele
2, S Anise, H Tui, J Henry tries; Y Tamura
3 con). Ht: 38-19
In Cardiff: (G North, J Davies tries; L Halfpenny con, 3 pen),
(S McInally try; A Hastings con, pen). Ht: 14-10
In London: (O Farrell 3 penalties, E Daly penalty),
(S Nkosi try; H Pollard 2 pen).
Italy 7 NZ Maori 59 Japan 31 Wales 21 England 12 Ireland 54 Scotland South
Ht: 6-8
In Chicago: (J Larmour 3, T Beirne 2, L McGrath, S Cronin, G Ringrose tries; J Carbery 5 con, R Byrne 2 con), (M Campagnaro try; C Canna con). Ht: 14-7.
(R Ware, M Karpik, A Dixon, B May, I Walker-Leawere 2, R Thompson, J Lowe, S Stevenson tries; O Black 5 con, J Ioane 2 con), (R Matyas, T Maupin, C Dolan tries; W Hooley pen, 2 con). Ht: 26-8.
USA 22
The easiest way to run the clock down when you’re playing with 13 men is to score tries and Ma¯ ori did just that with a classic score 18 seconds into the first half.
Right winger Jonah Lowe made a break from the re-start and he set lock Isaia Walker-Leawere galloping free on a 50 metre run to score his side’s fifth try.
Walker-Leawere wasn’t content with one try and six minutes later he was in for his second.
Jonah Lowe, Rob Thompson and Stevenson also crossed in the second half.
USA had their moments in the match and didn’t disgrace themselves given they were missing a handful of their regular starters.
Locks Parkinson and Walker-Leawere were both dominant figures on defence as was blindside flanker Reed Prinsep.
As the home of the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field has seen plenty of big humans bumping off would-be defenders and Akira Ioane added a slightly different chapter to that narrative.
The big No 8 took less than two minutes to stamp his mark on the match with his first powerful run and he also provided a steady stream of lineout ball.
New Zealand-born Tony Lamborn – who played for Southland in this year’s Mitre 10 Cup – was one of USA’s best.
The openside flanker, who was promoted to captain following the late scratching of Nate Augspurger, gave his all in a beaten pack.
Tim Maupin, who only came into the side late to replace Augspurger scored one of the USA’s secondhalf tries with the other going to No 8 Cam Dolan.
New Zealand Ma¯ori, who will head to South America to play against Chile and Brazil, are now at minuscule odds to finish the tour unbeaten. Shaun