All Blacks put paid to French challenge

By HERALD ONLINE STAFF

The All Blacks beat France 37-12 in their one-off rugby test in Wellington last night.

After two test victories against the lesser lights of Samoa and Argentina, the match against France provided the All Blacks with a much sterner examination ahead of the Tri-Nations series.

They responded to the challenge with a good all-round display, running in four tries - two in each half - while strong defence kept the French from crossing the New Zealand line.

The French - something of an unknown quantity with seven changes to their side that lost to the Springboks last weekend - started better than the All Blacks and had all the points after ten minutes, thanks to two penalties from debut first five-eighths David Skrela.

Phase after phase the men in black struggled to make an impact, but two tries - one to wing Jeff Wilson, the other to flanker Reuben Thorne - came eventually, the result of persistence and continued pressure.

Wilson's, which set a new All Black try-scoring record, came midway through the first half after a penalty gave All Black first-five Tony Brown a chance to make some ground.

Good work from Troy Flavell and Ron Cribb moved the ball out left to Brown who took out two French defenders near the line and slipped the pass to Wilson in the clear.

Mouth agape, Wilson celebrated setting a new record - at 43 - one ahead of the mark he shared with Christian Cullen.

Thorne had his own milestone to celebrate - his first five-pointer in test rugby - at the end of the first half.

After nearly five minutes of pick and go play which had edged the All Blacks towards the posts one metre at a time, halfback Justin Marshall ran at the French defence.

Slipping a perfectly timed pass, Marshall found Thorne running into a gap and he crossed untouched.

With the All Blacks leading 17-6 at the break, the two teams got locked in a dogfight for much of the second half, the only scoring from two penalties apiece.

But, to the delight of his home crowd who jumped to their feet every time he got the ball, Jonah Lomu's 30th test try broke the stalemate.

His try came from a perfectly worked backline move, Pita Alatini putting Wilson into the gap who, as the defence caught him, popped up the pass for Lomu to score in the corner.

Replacement fullback Doug Howlett scored minutes later in a similar move.

Howlett hadn't been on the field for more than 20 seconds and with 8 minutes left in the match there would not have been many who were picking he would keep up his try-a-game tradition.

But Howlett found himself on the receiving end of some perfect passing outwide and streaked through a gap to score his 8th try in seven tests.

The two tries sealed the match and rewarded the All Blacks for their patience and tenacity.

Their defence was as equally committed, knocking over waves of French attacks without conceding anything more than peanlties.

However, problems with set-pieces, especially lineouts and scrums, will have caused concern for coach Wayne Smith as the team looks ahead to the first Tri-Nations match against South Africa in three weeks.

New Zealand 37 (J Wilson, R Thorne, J Lomu, D Howlett tries; T Brown 4 con, 3 pen)

France 12 (D Skrela 4 pen)

Halftime: 17-6.