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An experimental New Zealand team, missing injured star men Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, wrapped up their World Cup pool play unbeaten after overpowering Canada 79-15 here on Sunday.
The All Blacks, who also beat Pool A opponents Tonga (41-10), Japan (83-7) and France (37-17), will now face Argentina in next week’s quarter-final in Auckland.
Colin Slade was given the number 10 shirt after Carter was earlier ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a groin injury, and oversaw a successful early running game from the home side before being moved to the wing to allow Piri Weepu on and then hobbling off in the 65th minute.
McCaw’s replacement at openside flanker, Victor Vito, had an enormous game alongside the irrepressible Jerome Kaino and was part of a pack that destroyed the Canadian scrum, a ploy that yielded four tries on against-the-head ball.
There was also a welcome first World Cup appearance for Zac Guildford, who last month had admitted to a drinking problem, the winger scoring four tries and setting up two more tries in this 12-try to two romp.
“It was great to see those backs crossing the chalk like that,” said stand-in All Blacks skipper Andrew Hore.
“He (Carter) is going to be hard to replace. He is a special player but if we keep building on that we can go a long way.”
Canada captain Pat Riordan said: “The speed of the contact and their outside backs are a real factor. “But I’m real proud of the guys.”
Canada took the lead with a second-minute Ander Monro penalty but the All Blacks machine got rolling when Slade broke the line and threw out a beautiful 20-metre pass to the fast-advancing Guildford, easily riding Trainor’s tackle to touch down in the corner.
The All Blacks attacked Canada at set-piece, Vito the recipient of a ball that popped out of a retreating scrum, the first from a raft of similar scenarios.
Slade missed the conversion but hit a penalty to stretch his side’s lead.
Guildford was instrumental in the third try, drawing the defence and passing to Israel Dagg for a simple run-in.
The Canadians looked ragged around the breakdown and when Conrad Smith snatched up a turnover, Jimmy Cowan kicked ahead and Guildford got his second when Trainor made a terrible hash of the clearance.
On the half-hour mark, fullback Mils Muliaina, winning his 99th cap, crossed the whitewash after Guildford was played into space by Kieran Read from another scrum taken against the head.
Guildford grabbed his hat-trick with five minutes of the first-half to play, Sonny Bill Williams splitting the defence and putting in a little dink kick retrieved by Muliaina, who offloaded to the winger.
Trainor bundled over for a well-deserved Canada try on the stroke of half-time to make it 37-8, Ander Monro having missed the conversion.
The Canadian winger then got his brace early in the second period, collecting a loose ball that had been hacked on by Monro.
Cowan hit straight back, Smith played into the gap by a smart Williams offload before passing to the scrum-half.
Kaino crunched his way over after the Canadian scrum again wilted and Williams also scored soon after following some slick hands.
A raft of replacements and positional changes played havoc with any continuity.
Kaino soon got his second from a pushover, Guildford grabbed his fourth and Vito completed his brace with time running out, Weepu kicking four conversions.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.