The makeshift All Blacks, with Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina among those missing injured, scored 13 tries at a rate of one every six minutes to evoke memories of the Bloemfontein massacre of 1995, when they won 145-17.
The performance, at a packed Waikato Stadium, was by far the heaviest defeat in a World Cup which has so far been notable for the giant strides smaller teams have made to catch up with the established nations.
“The big thing for us was to improve and to get the structure of our game right,” said All Blacks captain Keven Mealamu. “But we have still got a few things that we can work away at.”
New Zealand’s biggest ever World Cup win was the 145-17 thumping of Japan in 1995, while the Brave Blossoms have now conceded 50 points or more in nine World Cup games.
“In the first half we missed 13 tackles,” said Japan coach John Kirwan. “When you play the All Blacks, if you miss one it can cost you the game. I think it was a good lesson for us. We had some positives through the evening and our World Cup starts now.”
The All Blacks now face a stiffer test against France next Saturday while Japan will revert to their strongest line-up for their must-win game against Tonga on Wednesday.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2011.
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