All Blacks and Springboks lead try feast

By PAUL TAIT

SYDNEY - The second day of the World Cup went entirely to form as favourites New Zealand, South Africa, France and Ireland romped to easy victories in their opening matches.

The All Blacks crossed the line 11 times in a 70-7 drubbing of Italy, South Africa went one better with 12 tries in a 72-6 rout of Uruguay, France overpowered Fiji 61-18 and the Irish crushed Romania 45-17.

Flying wings Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett scored two tries each for New Zealand, whose day was partially spoiled by a knee injury to centre Tana Umaga that could rule him out of the rest of the tournament.

The All Blacks, winners of the inaugural World Cup in 1987, experienced few problems beating Italy in Melbourne, though there was evidence of rustiness.

"We breached a lot and that was encouraging," coach John Mitchell said. "There was a 20-minute patch in the second half which was outstanding.

"(But) we need to be more patient," he added. "We were just over-enthusiastic but the guys will be better for it after this game."

Umaga collided with team mate Carlos Spencer as he was tackled and looked to be seriously hurt.

"It appears to be ligament damage and if that is the case he could be out of the tournament," New Zealand coaching co-ordinator Robbie Deans said.

South Africa completed a record victory over Uruguay in the opening pool C match in Perth, halfback Joost van der Westhuizen crossing for two tries in the first six minutes before completing his hat-trick.

The South Africans, whose build-up to the tournament was marred by poor form and accusations of racism and violence, amassed 36 points in each half to complete their biggest ever World Cup win.

France centre Yannick Jauzion scored a hat-trick of tries as his side mixed their customary flair with composure to overwhelm Fiji in Brisbane.

The French led 24-8 at the interval, conceded a penalty and a try early in the second half but ran riot in the closing stages, scoring 37 points as Fiji crumbled into an ill-disciplined rabble.

France captain Fabien Galthie was full of praise for his three-quarter line.

"It was a beautiful match for the backs," Galthie said. "It was a very good performance, we had some good moves and good momentum."

France coach Bernard Laporte singled out centre Tony Marsh, who recovered from testicular cancer earlier this year.

"We are very happy that Tony Marsh has been able to play in this match and that he has performed well," Laporte said. "It was something very important for us."

Ireland grabbed maximum points from their opening pool A match against Romania in Gosford, with record scorer Denis Hickie crossing for two tries and Shane Horgan, captain Keith Wood and Victor Costello claiming one apiece.

First five-eighths David Humphreys kicked 18 points to help put the Irish on top of their group, ahead of hosts Australia who beat Argentina 24-8 in the tournament's opening match on Friday.

England, Scotland and Wales begin their campaigns today, with the top-ranked English team expected to continue the weekend's prolific scoring feats in their pool C game against Georgia.

Leading points/try scorers

26 - Frederic Michalak (France)

18 - David Humphreys (Ireland)

17 - Daniel Carter (New Zealand)

15 - Yannick Jauzion (France), Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

14 - Elton Flatley (Australia)

13 - Carlos Spencer (New Zealand)

10 - Doug Howlett (New Zealand), Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand), Denis Hickie (Ireland), Christophe Dominici (France), Louis Koen (South Africa), Bakkies Botha (South Africa)


- REUTERS

Full World Cup coverage

Fixtures and Results