Eight-try blitz as All Blacks win second tour match in emphatic fashion
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DURBAN, Aug 11 : New Zealand ran in an eight-try blitz without conceding as they romped to an emphatic 54-0 win over the Sharks on Tuesday in the second game of their South African tour.
It was a much more convincing performance after Friday’s opener against the Stormers in Cape Town in which their forwards struggled before they scored late tries to win 38-21.
The Sharks had little answer to a rampant All Blacks with winger Fehi Fineanganofo scoring two of the tourists’ tries while the other six came from Damian McKenzie, Caleb Clarke, Jordie Barrett, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai and Sam Darry with Ruben Love putting over seven conversions.
The Sharks, who fielded a youthful line-up and had none of their current internationals available, showed early promise and held out until the 19th minute when Fineanganofo went over on the short side for the opening try.
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McKenzie added one more before the break, before going off injured at halftime, as the All Blacks looked to run with the ball at pace despite the heavy pitch, littered with puddles of water after rain that only cleared minutes before kickoff.
The second half was one-way traffic against a tired-looking home side as Clarke and Fineanganofo again were fed long passes to score in the corner and Barrett and Preston ran through for easy scores.
Tavatavanawai went over with 10 minutes to play before lock Darry burst through the home defences and stretched to get the ball over the line in the 76th minute for the last score.
The Sharks put on 44-year-old former All Black Ma’a Nonu for the last 20 minutes after he recently joined the provincial side in a leadership and mentorship capacity.
Nonu, who won 103 caps for the Kiwis, performed a poignant solo response to New Zealand’s traditional pre-match Haka to the delight of the small crowd and then delivered some crunching blows on his compatriots in his cameo performance, one of the highlights for the 14,759 spectators at King’s Park.
The All Blacks next meet the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday in the third of four clashes against provincial opposition as they embark on a first traditional tour of South Africa in 30 years.
They also play four tests against the Springboks, with the first in Johannesburg on August 22.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Source: Reuters
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