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LYON - Fired-up flanker Rocky Elsom quickly answered criticism from Eddie Jones with a hat-trick of tries as the Wallabies ran riot in their rugby World Cup opener today.
Elsom took just 41 minutes to score three of Australia's 13 tries as they smashed Japan 91-3 at Lyon's
Stade Gerland.
The backrower's menacing display equalled Toutai Kefu's 1999 effort against Romania for the most tries scored by a Wallabies forward in a World Cup match.
Elsom responded to pre-tournament jibes by former Wallabies coach Jones immediately by scoring two of Australia's first three tries to take a 23-3 half-time lead in front of 40,043 fans.
He then completed the hat-trick just a minute into the second half as the match became one-way traffic.
Jones questioned the blindside flanker's test match work-rate last weekend and Elsom did all he could to dismiss the criticism against the outmuscled No 18-ranked Japanese.
Elsom felt Jones' barbs were intended to make him perform better and his all-round performance - including lineout steals, punishing defence and ball-running - showed it certainly did.
Debutant Berrick Barnes, 21, also had a day to remember by scoring a double, including his first after just two minutes on the ground following his 57th minute substitution for veteran first five-eighth Stephen Larkham.
Fullback Chris Latham, in his first test run-on start this year, and replacement winger Drew Mitchell, also bagged doubles.
Mitchell was on for less than a minute when he crossed midway through the second half for Australia to jump to a 58-3 lead.
Seven tries were scored in the last 23 minutes for the Wallabies biggest World Cup win abroad.
Despite the scoreline, the Cherry Blossoms showed from the outset they would not wilt under the pressure of the occasion when they, to a man, aggressively joined a sixth-minute scuffle between George Gregan and lock Takanori Kumagae.
It provided the third huge roar from the pro-Japan crowd within as many minutes.
The first was when the twisting Japanese scrum somehow retained its own ball for a clearing kick.
Then winger Tomoki Kitigawa managed to spark a rollicking 50-metre counter-attack after a Larkham kick bounced on the tryline and managed to evade Lote Tuqiri, Latham and Matt Giteau.
But they had no answer to the bigger, stronger and more skilled Australians as the match wore on.
Lock Nathan Sharpe opened Australia's 2007 World Cup try account by peeling off a 20m driving maul to score the Wallabies' first try in the 18th-minute for an 11-0 lead.
Larkham started rustily but popped a perfect inside pass for Elsom to score after Mortlock broke the line and ran 20m with outmuscled Japanese defenders hanging off him..
Larkham was also prominent in the build up to Elsom's second try as he ghosted through a gap to put Australia in position for Latham to find the flanker with a cut-out pass.
The Lyon packed house cheered wildly when tiny five-eighth Kosei Ono kicked a 40m penalty to open the Cherry Blossoms account just before halftime.
- AAP
