The All Blacks left for South Africa on Sunday and a telling Tri-Nations clash with the Springboks feeling more contrite than confident after a stumbling 64-13 win over Canada.
New Zealand looked anything like world champions in waiting as they took a 26-13 lead into half-time at Hamilton and were forced to rely on flyhalf Dan Carter, who scored three second-half tries among 29 points to put the Canadians in their place.
The match was a poor dress rehearsal for the All Blacks’ Tri-Nations campaign, particularly for their series opener against the Boks in Durban on Saturday, and an indecisive step on their road to the World Cup.
The All Blacks have only four Tests remaining before the Cup in France — two each against South Africa and Australia — and Saturday’s match suggested myriad problems to solve before the world tournament begins.
New Zealand ran out a largely second-string side but made the fortuitous decision to include Carter, the key to its Cup campaign, whose three tries and seven conversions added up to a record score by a New Zealander against Canada.
Andrew Mehrtens held the record at 28 points as Carter notched another milestone as only the second All Blacks flyhalf after Tony Brown against Samoa to score three tries in a Test.
There were other individual milestones to elevate New Zealand’s mediocre performance. Prop John Schwalger scored a try on his Test debut, and flanker Chris Masoe and hooker Andrew Hore scored their first tries in Tests.
Makeshift centre Luke McAlister passed 100 Test points with his first-half try, and Sitiveni Sivivatu broke a short-lived drought to score his 17th try in 15 Test appearances.
Six of the All Blacks’ tries came in a second half in which they scored 38 unanswered points to relieve the embarrassment of a first spell in which Canada matched and even outplayed them in several areas.
New Zealand held a slender 12-10 lead when Canadian fullback Mike Pyke dashed the length of the field for his try. With their attack misfiring and integral elements of their game in disarray, the All Blacks were suddenly red-faced.
Carter has his first try a minute into the second half and added others at 10-minute intervals as New Zealand gradually, and laboriously, took charge.
The All Blacks had almost 78% of territory and spent 32 minutes inside the Canadian 22, making nine breaks but managing only 10 tries. Canada developed a tight, drifting defensive screen and New Zealand wasted too much time passing the ball in front of the defence without attacking the line.
Twelve handling errors also limited the effectiveness of their attack.
”In the first half I thought we came out very strong,” Canadian captain Morgan Williams said. ”Our defence at times, I thought, put the All Blacks on the back foot.
”I’m hugely proud of our guys. When you play opposition like the All Blacks, it’s hard to expect to win but I thought we put in a good effort today. We’ll take a lot from this game. We just need to shore up a few things come our next game and come the World Cup.”
Coach Graham Henry said New Zealand may have been distracted by thoughts of their pending departure for South Africa. ”Perhaps half our guys had their mind on the plane,” he said. — Sapa-AP