New Zealand ran in an eight-try blitz without conceding as they romped to an emphatic 54-0 win over the Sharks in the second game of their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour of South Africa.
It was a much more convincing performance from the tourists after Friday’s scratchy opener against the Stormers in Cape Town, with their forwards, set-piece and kicking game vastly improved to set a platform upon which the backs thrived.
The Sharks started brightly but ultimately had little answer to a rampant All Blacks, with winger Fehi Fineanganofo scoring two of the tourists’ tries.
The other six came from Damian McKenzie, Caleb Clarke, Jordie Barrett, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai and Sam Darry, with Ruben Love adding seven conversions in an impressive display from the fly half.
There was cause for concern for head coach Dave Rennie, though, as McKenzie was forced off before the interval after landing awkwardly on an ankle.
The Sharks put on 44-year-old former All Black Ma’a Nonu for the last 20 minutes after he recently joined the provincial side in a leadership and mentorship capacity. Nonu, who won 103 caps for the Kiwis, performed a poignant solo response to New Zealand’s traditional pre-match Haka to the delight of the small crowd, and then delivered some crunching blows on his compatriots in his cameo performance, one of the highlights for the 14,759 spectators at King’s Park.
The All Blacks are next up against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday before the first of four Tests against the Springboks takes place in Johannesburg a week later.
The landmark series will conclude in Baltimore on Saturday 12 September.
Reuters
