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All Blacks celebrate Sam Whitelock’s milestone with dominant win
The All Blacks ticked plenty of boxes on Friday night as they celebrated Sam Whitelocks’ record-equalling 148th Test appearance with a dominant 71-3 win over Namibia in Toulouse.
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Whitelock matches fellow two-time World Cup winner Richie McCaw for the most appearances by an All Black. It’s an astonishing achievement from one of the best to have worn the coveted jersey.
Earlier this week, coach Ian Foster called on the All Blacks to show “that record a lot of respect” against Namibia – and they did just that.
New Zealand won their first Test match in more than 40 days, and got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track, with a practically perfect display at Stade de Toulouse.
Fullback Beauden Barrett kicked off the Test at 9.02 pm, and it didn’t take long for the All Blacks to take control. New Zealand went coast to coast and scored with their first possession.
The All Blacks were both patient and clever as they continued to march up the field. There was some stunning razzle-dazzle, but the Kiwis made their mark on the back of some tough carries.
Barrett and wing Leicester Fainga’anuku combined with a clever crossfield kick, and a confident All Blacks outfit – almost suddenly – were making their way towards the try line.
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Fainga’anuku got the ball back in his hands, and a rampaging carry helped send halfback Cam Roigard over for the opening try of the night in the first minute.
That was only just the start, too.
Roigard crossed for another try about six minutes later with the All Blacks’ dominance at the set-piece laying the foundations for what ended up being quite an easy score.
The All Blacks raced out to a comfortable 12-nil lad, and those supporters wearing black were loving every minute of it – but everyone loves an underdog.
Namibia got off the mark in the 10th minute with flyhalf Tiaan Swanepoel nailing what ended up being his only penalty attempt of the Test. The crowd let out an incredibly powerful cheer as the ball sailed through the posts.
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But that’s as good as it got for Namibia.
Tries to Fainga’anuku, Anton Lienert-Brown and a double from playmaker Damian McKenzie saw the All Blacks take an emphatic 38-3 lead into the break.
Roigard didn’t cross for a hat-trick amongst the flurry of tries, but a well-worked assist for halves partner McKenzie would’ve had fans back in New Zealand smiling in the early hours of Saturday morning.
It was a promising performance in the opening term, but fans wanted more.
Replacement Ethan de Groot scored the All Blacks’ seventh try of the Test early in the second half. Just after coming on, the prop found himself in the unfamiliar position of wing during broken play but did enough to score.
Dalton Papali’i, David Havili and Caleb Clarke piled on more points as the New Zealanders sailed towards a brighter tomorrow. They were winning by 61 points with 10 to play.
But things took a turn.
De Groot was sent to the sin bin for a high shot, and the card was upgraded to red following an off-field review. It wouldn’t put the result in doubt, but it’s a very real concern for the All Blacks ahead of some pivotal games at this World Cup.
Even with a one-player disadvantage, the All Blacks made sure to finish on a high note with replacement Rieko Ioane scoring their 11th and final try late in the piece.
Following tough losses to the Springboks at Twickenham and France in last week’s World Cup opener, the All Blacks bounced back in a big way.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
40 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
40 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
39 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
40 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to comments