Beaten by France in the opener, the All Blacks put themselves back in the race for the quarter-finals on Friday, giving a beating to the Squadra Azzurra (96-17).
Published
Reading time :
1 minute
:quality(50)/2023/09/29/000-33x6362-65172590c4875830607562.jpg)
Not an ounce of doubt for the All Blacks. Faced with Italians who dreamed of bringing them down, New Zealand did not have to force its talent to win, Friday September 29, at Groupama Stadium in Lyon (96-17). A sparkling success punctuated by 14 tries, which places it in a favorable position for qualification for the quarter-finals of this World Cup, before challenging Uruguay next Thursday for the last group match.
Defeated in the opening against France (27-13), Ian Foster’s men knew that they had no room for error otherwise they would experience a surprise elimination in this group A. But they never trembled against the Squadra Azzurra, the score increasing as the minutes passed. After only 22 minutes of play, evening captain Ardie Savea already scored his team’s fourth try to secure the offensive bonus (28-3). Not to be outdone, center Jordie Barrett made his return to competition, giving Aaron Smith a hat-trick try in the process. (17th, 27th, 34th).
A result which, however, does not yet ensure the qualification of the French XV for the direct elimination phase. Fabien Galthié’s men, still at the top of group A (13 points) with three points ahead of the two evening teams, will have to finish the job, Friday October 6, against these stunned Italians.