Barrett brothers make history as merciless All Blacks crush Canada
They came in their tens of thousands to see the one team that resonates here, New Zealand, fans queueing in their black jerseys in the rain more than four hours before the kick-off, a swarm so dense that stewards struggled to find space for coaches and chauffeured limousines to get through to the car park. It was chaotic but no one went home disappointed as the holders, easing through the gears as if running in a new car, outclassed what was a committed Canada.
New Zealand – who wore black armbands in memory of the former All Black Stanley “Tiny” Hill, who died on Wednesday at the age of 92 – secured the bonus point five minutes before half-time, but squandered four more opportunities through a mixture of dogged defending, handling errors in conditions that seemed no less humid for the roof being closed and sloppiness that is often a by-product of mismatches.
Four tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, including one by Scott Barrett following scores by his brothers Beauden and Jordie, doubled the advantage and gave an indication of what was said at half-time, although it also felt as if someone had belatedly turned on the air conditioning. The All Blacks were crisp, slick and lethal, prompted by Sonny Bill Williams, who created three in a row with a dink, a pass after drawing the defence and a lob out of the back of his hand, a kick, a flick and a trick.
Canada’s moment came on 21 minutes when a Richie Mo’unga fumble was seized on by Gordon McRorie near the New Zealand 22. He found Lucas Rumball and the ball was moved to Peter Nelson who took on Beauden Barrett only to be hauled down just short of the line. Not conceding a try was as important to the holders as maximising their opportunities.
Otherwise Canada tackled and scrambled, their narrow defence exposed at times but they threw themselves into challenges, desperate not to give anything away cheaply. The All Blacks pulled away through their own skill rather than their opponents’ deficiencies, but it was hard not to feel for a team that included few front-line professionals and who tend to face the big boys mainly when a World Cup rolls around.
In the four years since the 2015 tournament, Canada played three fixtures against tier-one nations: Italy at home and Ireland and Scotland away. In Japan, they have three in less than three weeks with Italy already faced and South Africa to come. Like this, international rugby makes little sense and there is no indication it will be any different come 2023.
Canada kept defending, their sporadic attacks coming off turnovers. They conceded the most points of any side this tournament, but fewer than the 79 they leaked to the All Blacks in 2011. Their World Cup will be defined by their final match against Namibia, which will decide who does not finish bottom of the pool.
For the All Blacks, it is all about success. It was Steve Hansen’s 103rd match in charge, equalling Graham Henry’s record, and the 90th time he entered a winning dressing room after a game. The danger for the All Blacks is that, with Namibia and Italy to come, their competitive edge may not be at its sharpest come the quarter-finals.
It happened in 2007, when Hansen was Henry’s assistant, a hard lesson absorbed. Here they were like Japan in slightly slower motion, the craft of Williams, Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett, Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty supplemented by the drive of Kieran Read, Shannon Frizell and Scott Barrett. Ardie Savea became the first player to wear goggles in a World Cup when he came on 10 minutes from the end, although he threw them off after a couple of minutes.
Canada were on the attack in the final minute when they lost the ball and Beauden Barrett was away on a 50metre run. Andrew Coe chased him all the way, forcing the full-back to change the hand in which he carried the ball to ready himself for a fend off only to lose control of it. His burst took New Zealand to more than 900 metres running with the ball on a night when Canada attempted just shy of 200 tackles, outgunned but not outfought.
The two sets of players joined together at the end of the match to bow to the crowd. It showed the respect New Zealand had for the unyielding effort put in by their opponents. Canada’s resolve was personified by their flanker Matt Heston, who has spent the past three years in England’s National One with Darlington Morden Park, although he is joining Major League Rugby in the United States after the tournament. “It’s the fastest game most of us have played in,” he said. “Everybody left everything on the pitch and there are a lot of sore, tired bodies. We threw everything at them and applied some pressure. Coming together with them at the end showed respect for the game, two teams going at it for 80 minutes, smashing into each other, and then shaking hands before having a beer.”