A seven-try, second half blitz, including a hat-trick from Hosea Gear, swept the New Zealand Maori to a 65-22 victory over Japan in their Pacific Nations Cup match yesterday.
Japan led 22-17 at halftime, but were unable to hold back the Maori as they stepped up the pace and made their passes stick through the second half.
The New Zealand Maori’s first bonus-point win since the opening round defeat of Tonga set them up for a championship showdown against the only other unbeaten side, Australia A, in the final match next weekend.
For some of the Maori there was a challenge within a challenge in the match, with loose forwards Tanerau Latimer and Liam Messam the front runners to be called up by the All Blacks to replace injured captain Richie McCaw.
Locks Jason Eaton and Ross Filipo are also in line for All Blacks duty in the opening tri-nations Test against South Africa next weekend as cover for Ali Williams.
The Maori, who prefer a free-flowing game, were victims of their own high error-rate in the first half as loose passes went to ground and Japan were quick to capitalize.
Captain Tamati Ellison said that with ample possession it was a matter of being patient and waiting for the tide to turn.
“We’ve got some good ball players and once we freed up the arms it was alright,” Ellison said. “Early on we were probably a bit too structured for our type of rugby.”
In a see-saw opening period, Japan’s fly-half James Arlidge opened the scoring with a penalty, only for the Maori to reply with a bruising run down the sideline by Filipo to open the way for a try by Zar Lawrence.
Full-back Bryce Robbins scored Japan’s first try from a rehearsed move after the smaller visitors had opted for a scrum instead of a penalty.
Robbins was also instrumental in tries from Christian Loamanu and Luke Thompson, both converted by Arlidge as Japan completed their point scoring in the first half.
Callum Bruce and Tamati Ellison scored for the Maori, with Bruce adding a conversion, to leave the Maori trailing by five points going into the second half.
But the new-look Japan side, featuring 10 changes from the team beaten 24-12 by Fiji last week, played well below their best in the second half, leaving the New Zealand Maori to cash in on soft-tackling as they added 48 points in the final 40 minutes.
Replacement wing Gear scored three tries, including a 90m solo effort from turnover ball, Lawrence and Bruce both touched down a second time, while Dwayne Sweeney and Jason Kawau also scored.
Bruce ended up with 25 points from the match with his two tries, six conversions and a penalty.
■ TONGA 15, SAMOA 20
AFP, NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA
Gavin Williams kicked Samoa home for their first Pacific Nations Cup win when they beat Tonga 20-15 yesterday.
In the battle of the two cellar-dwellers, Samoa were outplayed for much of the game and found themselves starved of possession.
But they still managed the only two tries of the encounter and came home on the back of Williams’ powerful boot on a firm ground at Tonga’s Teufaiva Stadium.
Tonga, who conceded 90 points a week ago against Australia A, looked set to restore some pride as they dominated territory and possession.
However, despite their ample ball possession, they suffered from a lack of attacking options and were left to rely on five penalties for their 15 points.
The defeat left them pointless at the bottom of the table with only one round remaining, while Samoa moved up to fourth, equal with Japan.
Fly-half Pierra Hola gave Tonga a positive start with a penalty in the second minute and he landed two more shots at goal to stretch the lead to 9-0 within half-an-hour.
But, although Samoa were on the back foot for much of the game, they always looked enterprising with the ball and they posted their first points of the game just before halftime when Sevens star Uale Mai ran blind from the base of a scrum to score wide out.
A Williams conversion left Samoa trailing 7-9 at the turn.
After Tongan wing Vungakoto Lilo, who took over the kicking duties when Hola was substituted, landed a penalty soon after halftime, Samoa took the lead for the first time with their second try.
Fly-half Eliota Sapolu-Fuimaono snapped through a series of half-hearted tackles before off-loading to David Lemi, who scored handy to the posts and Williams’ conversion put Samoa up 14-12.
Lilo regained the lead for Tonga with his second penalty, before Williams landed two late penalties, one from half-way, to seal the win.
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