Match Centre: Rugby World Cup Pool A: New Zealand 96-17 Italy
Aaron Smith of New Zealand scores his team's fifth try during the Rugby World Cup game against Italy
©Photo by Michael Steele - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images
New Zealand 96-17 Italy, Pool A, OL Stadium, Lyon
New Zealand ran a 14-try riot as they trounced Italy 96-17 as they move to the verge of a quarter-final in the ongoing Rugby World Cup encounter in Lyon on Friday.
This is second win for New Zealand in three games as they take their tally to 10 points moving to the second place in the table.
Italy also are with 10 points and are at third position in the table but they now face a formidable France side in a must-win encounter in Lyon on 6th October. This was also 16th consecutive win for New Zealand over Italy.
Italy had a chance to eliminate New Zealand from the tournament but it was a far off a chance as the All Blacks made a statement of intent straightaway with Beauden Barrett's crossfield kick was collected by Will Jordan as he dived over the line in the 6th minute. Richie Mo’unga followed with the conversion to make it 7-0.
Italy managed to win a breakdown penalty and Tommaso Allan maintained his perfect kicking in the tournament landing the three-pointer in the 9th minute but their resistance came to an end as Aaron Smith dived over at the back of a rolling maul for their second try and shortly Beauden went past the Italian defenders to set up Mark Telea's try.
The bonus point came in the 26th minute when Ardie Savea powered through almost unopposed. Mo’unga landed his fourth conversion as the All Blacks extended their lead to 28-3. There was no answer for the All Blacks' onslaught as Smith went on to complete his hat-trick and Savea's second try ensured Ian Foster's men dominated the opening half scoring 49 points.
Italy made a better start to the second half with Monty Ioane going past Richie Mo'unga feeding Allan, who offloaded to Ange Capuozzo for their opening try. Allan kicked the extras to make it 49-10 before Scott Barrett set up Brodie Retallick for their eighth try and Dalton Papali'i followed the suit to make it 63-10 at the end of the third quarter.
There was no stopping the All Blacks Cane fed to Dane Coles as he dotted down before New Zealand set up a strong scrum at the end of which McKenzie dotted down making the scoreline 75-10. Jordan completed his second as he collected a short pass from Savea and McKenzie improved it to extend the gap down to 82-10.
Further tries from Coles and Lienert-Brown took New Zealand's tally close to 100 points before Ioane scored a consolation try for Italy as the All Blacks completed a dominating victory.
Points Table: Pool A
| Position |
Team |
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Points |
| 1 |
France |
3 |
3 |
0 |
13 |
| 2 |
New Zealand |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
| 3 |
Italy |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
| 4 |
Uruguay |
3 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
| 5 |
Namibia |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
Team line up:
New Zealand: Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Mark Telea; Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith; Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala; Brodie Retallick, Scott Barrett; Shannon Frizell, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea (cap)
Reserves: Dane Coles, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Cam Roigard, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Luca Morisi, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni; Dino Lamb, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (cap), Lorenzo Cannone
Reserves: Hame Faiva, Ivan Nemer, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi, Martin Page-Relo, Paolo Odogwu
