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 No mercy All Blacks beat Italy into submission
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 08:36 PM
HUDDERSFIELD, England (CNN/SI) -- Italy never got a look in as the New Zealand side, which started 14 reserves overwhelmed the European team 101-3, as it ran in 14 tries in the first match of the day on Thursday. Italy gained the dubious privilege of being the first team to be eliminated from the World Cup. The All Black records books will have to be rewritten following fullback Jeff Wilson's three tries, which took his total to 37 tries, making him the all time leading New Zealand try scorer. John Kirwan had previously held the record of 35. Also New Zealand's giant winger Jonah Lomu set a new World Cup try scoring mark of 12 by crossing the Italian line twice. The previous record had been held by Rory Underwood. Lomu's record is even more impressive since he did it in just eight games, whereas Englishman Underwood's previous tally was over 15 games. Fly-half Tony Brown amassed 36 points from a try, three penalties and 11 conversions while two more tries came from winger Glen Osborne and others from center Daryl Gibson, back rowers Daryl Mika, Taine Randell and Scott Robertson, substitute Christian Cullen, and hooker Mark Hammett. The Italians, whose lone score came from a penalty by Diego Dominguez, also conceded eight tries against England and, after three losses, are the first of the 20 teams to be eliminated. New Zealand coach John Hart said he was delighted by his players' performance, which left the Italians utterly dejected. "I take my hat off to every one of them. We sustained the momentum really well, which was the challenge I gave them at halftime. I told them not to back off." "We were focusing on playing well," he said. "And whether the difference in points is 20, 40 or 60 doesn't really matter. It's about the performance." Italian coach Massimo Mascioletti said his side was "literally non-existent." The All Blacks, now heading for the French Riviera for a short break and -- ominously -- some fitness training, made 11 changes from the team that beat England, but still ran in six tries in the first half as they took a 51-3 interval lead. Amazingly, the Italians almost scored a try in the opening 30 seconds of the game at the McAlpine Stadium when winger Nicolas Zisti, following up his own kick, charged to the corner but was forced into touch only inches from the New Zealand line. After that it was pretty much one-way traffic as Brown kicked a penalty and then Wilson started the feast of tries by going over after a long pass from Osborne. Dominguez replied for the Italians with a penalty before Brown kicked one for the All Blacks and then scored his first try for his country after taking an interception. A Dominguez penalty hit the post before New Zealand back rower Dylan Mika scored his first try for his country and Brown's third conversion made it 27-3. Then came Lomu's amazing fourth try of the tournament. The big man joined the back of a scrum 15 meters from the Italian line, collected the ball and charged through two tackles for his 21st try in All Blacks colors to tie Underwood's record. A minute later Wilson went into the New Zealand record books when he took a pass from center Daryl Gibson on a triple overlap and crossed for his second of the day and 36th for the All Blacks to take Kirwan's mark. It was three tries in four minutes when Osborne took an inside pass from Wilson, now turning provider, for the sixth try of the half. Brown kicked the conversion and then added a penalty for a personal first half tally of 26 points. The All Blacks had to wait 11 more minutes in the second half for their seventh try, Wilson taking a pass from Pita Alatini before crossing in the corner. Brown landed the conversion although the ball bounced over off the crossbar. A minute later, the All Blacks took a quick lineout from an Italian clearance and Randell went over for the try and Brown's 11th successful kick took his total to 30 and the New Zealand lead to 65-3. Lomu scored his record breaking try in the 58th minute when he took an inside, reverse pass from scrum half Byron Kelleher and raced 25 meters past three Italians who weren't even able to lay a hand on him. This time Brown missed the conversion. Gibson went over for the 10th try after some brilliant work by Brown and Wilson set up the opening and the All Blacks led 75-3 although Brown missed again from the kick. Replacement flanker Robertson crossed for the next try after a slick, one-handed, punched pass from Wilson and Brown's conversion made it 82-3. Lomu wound up playing in the pack as a number eight for the last six minutes when Randell went off. The back row was replaced by center Cullen who had only been on the field for 30 seconds when he took a pass from Osborne and crossed for the 12th try. Hammett dived across for the next try after the All Blacks took a quick penalty close to the Italian line and Osborne went over in the corner for his second score. Brown's 11th conversion took the score past 100 for easily the highest score of this World Cup. Mascioletti suggested that, on Thursday's performance, no Northern Hemisphere side can compete with the All Blacks. "They always seem to have an extra gear and that will always give them a 25 to 30 point difference against Northern Hemisphere teams," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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