Rugby World Cup: All Blacks mercilessly, Namibia overwhelmed with 11 tries, 71-3

Everything was easy for the All Blacks, who clearly beat Namibia 71-3 and won the first 5 points of their World Cup with 11 tries scored. Coach Foster, however, will have a big problem to solve: the expulsion of Ethan De Groot – starting left prop – and the unconvincing performance of Tu’ungafasi (especially bad in the middle of the pitch) will force the coach to think carefully about what to do , in view of possible disqualification. There have been cases in which the expelled player was then “pardoned” by the disciplinary commission (for example Motoc after the red card in Italy-Romania), but there is a good chance that the New Zealand prop could miss the match against Italy, and it would be no small favor done by the All Blacks to the Azzurri. For the rest, a match never in question which makes it difficult to understand where New Zealand really stands: it will be the evening of 29 September, against Italy, that will say something more about the physical (and mental, above all) condition of the boys Foster.

Sprint start

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It takes New Zealand a minute and a half to break the deadlock: McKenzie and Barrett alternate in the distribution phase, then Fainga’anuku breaks two tackles and finds a perfect pass for Cam Roigard, who just has to put his legs in and smash for the 7-0. Namibia isn’t up for it, and like against Italy they attack through the central streets in search of space, they reach up to 5 meters but at the right moment they lose the ball with a forward move from Conradie. The All Blacks recover and start again in fourth gear: McKenzie narrowly misses Barrett’s inspired assist, then in the following scrum the New Zealand pack destroys the Namibians, Roigard collects, evades Stevens with a veronica and scores his personal double. On the other hand, Swanepoel closes the gap to 12-3, but New Zealand’s second burst soon closes the issue: in the 19th minute McKenzie scores the third try with great ease after a quick free kick and in the 24th minute he also scores the scoring of the bonus, thanks to the overflowing strength of Fainga’anuku, who takes 3 opponents with him and dunks for 24-3.

Domain

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At this point the All Blacks, without even much effort (and with some lapses in concentration) manage the match and expand the score. Lienert-Brown pierces the opposing defense with a treacherous kick, two Namibians collide and the New Zealand center flies into the goal undisturbed. At the end of the half, Roigard inspired the sixth try with a great acceleration and a no-look pass behind the back to McKenzie: 38-3 at halftime. In the second half Namibia showed signs of a reaction, then De Groot – on the bench due to a turnover and having just come on – with the first ball he touched went to the goal with a nice charge on Rossouw. Papali’i, Havili (still inspired by Roigard) and Clarke score again for 64-3, then the All Blacks close with 14 men for a red card to De Groot, author of a shoulder tackle on Boovsen. Namibia throws themselves in search of the goal of the flag: Coetzee inserts a prop (Shifuka) in the third row to have even more weight in the scrum, but Steven wastes everything with a forward. On the other side Rieko Ioane goes solo, skips 2 opponents and sets the final score at 71-3.