All Blacks hammer the Canadians in extreme humidity in Oita

The two-time defending world champions New Zealand completed a resounding 63-0 thumping of Canada at Oita in searing humidity.

The match was historic in two cases. Firstly, this match is the first World Cup match where three siblings have started for the All Blacks. The second case is that Ardie Savea became the first player to wear prescription goggles in a Rugby World Cup match.

The All Blacks were first to score via a penalty try to Kieran Read. Read equalled All Black great Richie McCaw for the most tries by an All Black forward as Read scored his 27th try for the All Blacks.

Jordie Barrett scored the next try for Steve Hansen’s side. Richie Mo’unga placed a cross-kick for Barrett, who had plenty of space on the wing.

Sonny Bill Williams was the next to score when he pulled off a fake offload and drove through the gap in the Canadian defence. The All Blacks were brilliant throughout the first 20 minutes of the first half.

However, there was a 15-minute period where the All Blacks and the Canadians were sloppy. Both sides dropped the ball often during that period. Canada was close to the try line, but the All Blacks’ defence stood strong against the Canadian attack.

All Blacks lock Scott Barrett bombed a sitter in the 32nd minute. He dropped the ball while diving over the try line. Big brother Beauden Barrett scored the next try for the All Blacks in the 36th minute when he collected a well-executed kick from Sonny Bill Williams.

The All Blacks led 28-0 at the break.

After the break, the All Blacks were fluent for the first ten minutes of the second half. The men in black scored the same number of points they scored in the first half in ten minutes as they scored four tries. Rieko Ioane scored his 24th try for the All Blacks in 27 Tests off the back of a Williams line-break.

Williams offloaded to Ioane, who finished on the wing in the 41st minute. Scott Barrett scored off the back off a Mo’unga line break in the 44th minute. The Barrett trio all scored in the match. This might be the first instance where three brothers have scored in the same match. That too, in a Rugby World Cup.

(Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Next to score was the flanker, Shannon Frizzell, in the 47th minute. Replacement scrumhalf Brad Weber, playing his first World Cup game, offloaded to Ioane, who made a clean break. Ioane passed the ball to Frizzell, who strolled over the try line.

In the 49th minute, Weber scored the first of his two tries for the night and his first try for the All Blacks. Weber, who has had a great year for the Chiefs in Super Rugby, showed pace.

The play started off the back of a Beauden Barrett line break. Barrett exhibited serious pace as well to burst through the gap in the Canadian defence and offloaded to Weber, who sprinted away to score the try.

They would add another try to the scoreboard via Weber. Weber scored his second try of the game on the back of some quick passing at the scrum by Ben Smith and Mo’unga and sprinted over the try line to score his second of the night.

Beauden Barrett bombed a certain try in the final minute of the game as the fullback dropped the ball close to the try line. The game finished at a comprehensive score of 63-0 in favour of the All Blacks.

This is the second time in World Cup history that the All Blacks have kept the opposition scoreless. The All Blacks had more possession, ran more metres, clean breaks, beat more defenders and more offloads than Canada. The All Black forwards also outmuscled the Canadians at the scrum.

In the post-match interview, All Blacks captain and No.8 Kieran Read mentioned the challenge of playing in the humidity. Read mentioned that Steve Hansen might not be happy with several knocks-ons and the All Blacks would try to improve the ball-handling aspect of the team.

Mo’unga had a brilliant game. He converted all nine goals (didn’t miss one conversion), made 34 passes and had ten runs for 40 metres. Mo’unga also beat one defender, made three offloads and three tackles.