All Blacks 108 Portugal 13
View photosKEY POINTS:
An injury to Mils Muliaina proved the only dark cloud over Lyon yesterday as the All Blacks notched a century against the epitome of minnows, Portugal.
Muliaina left the field clutching his left leg and sat with it iced and elevated for the remainder of the match.
While
it did not look like a tournament-ending injury, it will still be a bitter pill as he could have done with a decent run around at the back.
Last week, he played at centre against Italy but was one of few All Blacks not to get the run of the ball that day.
Leon MacDonald replaced him at fullback and found plenty of space, as did his teammates, in the all-too-predictable 16-try romp.
The match was played at the home of Olympique Lyon, who have won the French football championship six seasons in succession.
So this ground has seen a bit of quality - and the odd one-sided result.
This was never going to be close, which was a shame because as far as pre-match build-ups went, this was as stirring as any Tri Nations test.
Portugal came on to Stade Gerland bound in a single-file chain and sung their anthem with such gusto that veins were popping and saliva was flying.
That passion extended to the opening exchanges but once their wafer-thin defences were breached a few times, the men of Iberia lost all interest in tackling.
They were just happy to be here, as were the sun-basked capacity crowd. Every minor Portuguese victory - we're talking All Black knock-ons here - was greeted with sustained applause.
When they came close to scoring in the 20th minute, the roof nearly lifted. A minute later, when Goncalo Malheiro wrote himself into Portuguese legend by dropping a tidy goal, it did.
Malheiro wheeled away as if he was Luis Figo netting in the football World Cup. Nobody begrudged him the moment.
Unfortunately Joe Rokocoko had already scored twice by then, taking his tally to 40 tries in 46 tests, the second a beauty after a slick exchange with MacDonald from a quick lineout.
Tries to Isaia Toeava, Ali Williams, Jerry Collins times two, Aaron Mauger, Chris Masoe and the impressive and rarely sighted Andrew Hore followed before the half was out.
Some, like the try to Williams, came through simply exploiting channels Moses would have been proud to have created.
Others, like Masoe and Hore's came through excellent and sustained close quarter work.
For the start of the second half, the All Blacks replacements adorned ice vests but the scoring pace remained hot. Only problem was it was Portugal that scored first.
That should have Graham Henry hot under the collar. It was sloppy work that put Portugal in a position to score and the simple fact is that World Cup-winning teams don't make a habit of conceding soft tries like the three the All Blacks have leaked in two weeks.
Go back eight years when the tournament was last held in this hemisphere and Australia conceded just one five-pointer in the entire tournament.
Brendon Leonard restored order before Carl Hayman came on to have a trot at lock in place of Chris Jack.
When Rodney So'oialo replaced Williams, the All Blacks had a middle row made up of front and back-rowers.
Mistakes kept coming, too many of them, but so did tries. Nick Evans crossed to ensure he'd have a bumper haul of points.
Replacement halfback Andy Ellis benefited from the fact that nobody, certainly not the Portuguese, wants to get in the way of Jerry Collins.
The stand-in skipper was monstrous throughout. It almost wasn't fair. He left in the 64th minute - which is probably as close as Henry will get to showing mercy for the remainder of the tournament. Mauger certainly didn't show any when he dummied and scored on a three-on-one overlap.
Leon MacDonald got just reward for a strong game moments later, as the board ticked relentlessly towards 100 and Evans brought up the ton when he converted Carl Hayman's try four minutes from time.
New Zealand 108 (J. Rokocoko 2, I. Toeava, A. Williams, J. Collins, A. Mauger 2, C. Masoe, A. Hore, B. Leonard, N. Evans, A. Ellis, L.MacDonald, C. Smith 2, C. Hayman tries; Evans 14 cons), Portugal 13 (R. Cordeiro try; G. Malheiro dg, D.C. Pinto pen, con). HT: 52-3.
