YOKOHAMA (Reuters) – New Zealand ran in 10 tries to kick off their end-of-season tour with a convincing 64-19 victory over a lively Japan side in an entertaining test at Yokohama’s International Stadium on Saturday.
The makeshift All Blacks team showed the ruthless edge in their finishing that coach Scott Robertson had called for with seven tries in the first half but stuttered after the break, as was so often the case the Rugby Championship.
Lock Patrick Tuipulotu, number eight Wallace Sititi and winger Mark Tele’a were among the players who presented strong cases for inclusion on the remainder of the tour, while flyhalf Damian McKenzie kicked 14 points in a solid performance.
“We started quite rough,” said skipper Tuipulotu. “We didn’t get our set piece right and let them in for an early try.
“We managed to get some retention of the ball. As long as we held the ball, we managed to get some good payout and ended up with some tries.”
Japan showed plenty of attacking endeavour but paid the price for a raft of missed tackles to send coach Eddie Jones back to the drawing board ahead of their meetings with the English and France in November.
The Brave Blossoms exploded out of the blocks as Jones had promised they would and had already made a couple of line breaks before winger Jone Naikabula burst through the midfield on an inside pass to score the first try of the game in the fifth minute.
After Tele’a and Tuipulotu responded with tries for New Zealand, Japan number eight Faulua Makisi crossed in the 18th minute and lock Warner Dearns was unfortunate to have a third try called back for a knock-on.
The Japanese defence was not on a par with the attack, however, and the All Blacks started to find plenty of space, particularly when they played with the width that Robertson is hoping will become the trademark of his side.
Centre Billy Proctor and flankers Sam Cane and Samipeni Finau all scored in the space of eight minutes to give New Zealand a 29-12 lead on the half-hour mark.
The forwards were by now also making good ground through the middle, and props Pasilio Tosi and Tamaiti Williams added the sixth and seventh tries to send the visitors in at halftime with a comfortable 43-12 advantage.
Scrumhalf Cam Roigard, playing his first test of the year after recovering from injury, resumed the onslaught by shaking off a string of tacklers to touch down four minutes after the break.
Although Japan deserve some credit for their unstinting 80-minute effort, Robertson will be concerned that the scoring opportunities largely dried up in the second half.
Japan’s Opeti Helu was the next to score in the 69th minute, the replacement prop weaving through the defensive line and sidestepping McKenzie to mark his test debut with a fine try.
New Zealand did have the last say, however, with another test debutant, livewire outside back Ruben Love, crossing twice in the last two minutes.
The All Blacks now head to Europe to play England, Ireland, France and Italy in successive weeks in November.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard)
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