HOME
New Zealand overwhelm France 39-12

MARSEILLE, France (AP) - New Zealand overwhelmed France 39-12 at Stade Velodrome on Saturday and completed its four-test campaign through Europe without conceding a try.

After beating Wales, Italy and England this month, the All Blacks haven’t conceded a try in Europe since their World Cup quarterfinal loss to France two years ago.

On Saturday, a rampant All Blacks wearing white jerseys to avoid a color clash scored five - shared by Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mils Muliaina, Jerome Kaino, Cory Jane and Conrad Smith - in their best display of a mediocre year, and shut out the French in the second half.

"It was a great game with two teams wanting to attack," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said.

"It was really good to see two teams wanting to play attacking rugby football. That victory is a special one. We’ve had a challenging year and we won the last six games. I’m delighted by the players’ performance, they can now enjoy the summer."

New Zealand still has to play the Barbarians next weekend at Twickenham, but it was cherishing another humiliation of France on its home soil. The French still haven’t beaten the All Blacks in France for nine years, and won’t meet again until the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

That’s where France beat the All Blacks in June for its first win in New Zealand in 15 years, but New Zealand was missing captain Richie McCaw and star flyhalf Dan Carter, and their return made a big difference.

Carter tallied 14 points and the man of the match award, and McCaw afterwards received the international player of the year, becoming the first person to earn it twice since the award began in 2001.

"I am very proud to be collecting this," McCaw told his teammates. "But you can’t do it on your own. I have been proud to play alongside you."

France captain Thierry Dusautoir didn’t try to hide his disappointment after his side was humbled following wins over South Africa and Samoa.

"The fact is that we were not able to contest their rucks," Dusautoir said. "We lost the rucks battle, we didn’t manage to play aggressively and were quicker on the ball. It’s not just about the score, we also failed to play our game. If we had the answer to avoid this kind of setback, we would be a great nation of rugby."

France came into the game in confident mood but was undone by the All Blacks’ frenetic attacking pace and given a lesson.

Using its forwards’ might to gain a penalty at a scrum, France took an early lead when scrumhalf Julien Dupuy converted it in the fourth minute.

New Zealand responded four minutes later on its first attacking move with Ma’a Nonu offloading to Sivivatu, who broke a tackle before crossing the line for a converted try.

France missed a good chance to narrow the gap after a quick counterattack was concluded by flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc’s missed drop goal. However, the hosts went ahead from two more penalties from Dupuy, including one from 50 meters.

Muliaina, who became the second most-capped All Black of all time behind former captain Sean Fitzpatrick with 82 international appearances, scored the second try in the 22nd following a move started by Jimmy Cowan. The scrumhalf retrieved the ball in his own 22 meters and threw a pass for Sivivatu, who sped down the left before finding Muliaina.

"It’s a very special achievement," Henry said about Muliaina. "He played superbly and is back to his old form."

Google
www island.lk


Copyright©Upali Newspapers Limited.


Hosted by

 

Upali Newspapers Limited, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13, Sri Lanka, Tel +940112497500