All Blacks record century

2008-09-03 12:01

Auckland - New Zealand scored 15 tries and more than a point a minute to overwhelm Samoa 101-14 in a one-off rugby Test on Wednesday.

Fullback Mils Muliaina scored three tries in the first half, centre Conrad Smith and winger Richard Kahui touched down twice and nine other players added their names to the New Zealand scoresheet as the All Blacks beat a weakened Samoan team by a record margin.

New Zealand led 47-7, seven tries to one, at halftime and added eight tries, including a penalty try, in the second spell to surpass its highest score against Samoa.

The All Blacks had a 26-0 lead after 16 minutes and set their record score against Samoa - surpassing the 71-13 in 1999 - despite being held scoreless for periods of 18 minutes in the first half and 10 minutes in the second.

It was the fifth time New Zealand had reached 100 points in a match, with the All Blacks' record being the 145-17 win over Japan at the 1995 World Cup.

Samoa was forced to pick a severely under-strength side because many of its leading and most-experienced players are involved with European club sides. Most of the players who took the field Wednesday were young and Samoa-based and playing against the All Blacks for the first time.

Converted

Although it was outgunned by an All Blacks team which overwhelmingly controlled territory and possession, Samoa played with great spirit and scored a try in each half.

Flyhalf Uale Mai scored and converted his own try after 28 minutes and flanker Alafoti Faosiliva touched down off a break by Uale Mai four minutes before fulltime.

"What can you say? 100 points," Samoa captain Filipo Levi said. "It shows the All Blacks are on fire at the moment. They've showed in the Tri-Nations competition that they're a very consistent team.

"For some of our boys it was a big step up from playing club rugby in Samoa but, having said that, it was a big learning curve."

New Zealand scored its first try, through Muliaina, after only two minutes and had another two tries, including a second to Muliaina, in the next 10 minutes as it led 19-0. Conrad Smith scored in the 16th and 34th minutes but Samoa defended vigorously to hold the All Blacks scoreless between Smith's two tries - its best period of the match.

Flyhalf Daniel Carter converted six of the All Blacks' first-half tries, surpassing 2 000 points in first-class rugby, and his replacement Stephen Donald scored his first Test try and converted seven of New Zealand's eight second-half tries.

General cohesion

The match was scheduled to help the All Blacks bridge the three-week gap between their most recent Tri-Nations clash with South Africa and their next, against Australia, at Brisbane on Sept. 13. The Brisbane match will decide the outcome of the Tri-Nations tournament.

The rusty All Blacks lacked some polish at kickoffs, in lineouts and in the general cohesion of their attacking play.

"The boys really enjoyed themselves," All Blacks captain Rodney So'oialo said. "It was a bit scrappy but we achieved some of the things we wanted to achieve.

"The boys haven't played for a couple of weeks and it was good to have the chance to turn the body over with a view to the match coming up next week."

Scores:

New Zealand 101 (Mils Muliaina 3, Conrad Smith 2, Richard Kahui 2, Adam Thomson, Jimmy Cowan, Stephen Donald, Ali Williams, Jerome Kaino, Isaia Toeava, Piri Weepu tries; penalty try; Daniel Carter 6 conversions; Stephen Donald 7 conversions),

Samoa 14 (Uale Mai, Alafoti Faosiliva tries; Uale Mai conversion; Roger Warren conversion). HT, 47-7.

- SAPA