Canada were never expected to give the All Blacks much of a challenge, but their dogged defence was able to limit their opponents for the first 60 minutes of Saturday's one-off Test in Hamilton. The All Blacks back-line showed a lack of creativity and struggled to break the Canadian defensive line, while the forwards were unable to assert their dominance until late in the game.

Fit-again Dan Carter bounced back from a slow start to bag himself a hat-trick of tries and a personal haul of 29 points. The New Zealand fly-half was quiet in the first half but came alive in the second as Canada tired.

The scoring began in just the third minute when All Blacks winger Sitevini Sivivatu found a hole in the centre of the Canadian defence and scored without a hand being laid on him. But once Canada realised they would see little of the ball for most of the match, they threw themselves into their defensive work and were able to hold the All Blacks out for long periods.

'The All Blacks can take some positives out of this game, but will need to improve their back play for next weekend's Tri-Nations clash in South Africa'


There was a scary moment for New Zealand fans when lock Troy Flavell went down with whtat turned out to be only a dislocated finger. However, Flavell continued to favour his left hand for the rest of the game until he was substituted early in the second half.

Stand-in centre Luke McAlister scored the All Blacks' second try in the 12th minute as sustained pressure led to an overlap down the left flank. Canada replied immediately with a penalty goal to James Pritchard. Then the Canadians shocked everyone when fullback Mike Pyke intercepted a pass and ran 80 metres to score, Pritchard's conversion narrowing the gap to 12-10.

Debutant prop John Schwalger then got in on the scoring, crashing over in the right-hand corner to extend the All Blacks' lead. After another Pritchard penalty closed the gap, the All Blacks put some respectability into the score-line as hooker Andrew Hore scored on the stroke of half time to give the All Blacks a 26-13 lead.

After the break the semi-professional Canadians began to tire and miss tackles. This led to a rapid string of New Zealand tries, first to Carter, then to Chris Masoe, then Carter's second.

With the game getting further and further away from Canada, they launched a prolonged raid inside All Blacks' territory but just could not cross the line. And as the match passed the hour mark, New Zealand stamped their dominance on the game once more, marching down the field and setting up Carter for his third try.

With the Canadian pack nearing exhaustion, the All Blacks were able to turn ball over seemingly at will and ran in two more tries, the first to Doug Howlett, then a long-range effort from replacement Rico Gear.

Despite the losing margin, Canada can hold their heads high, having fought hard and never given up. At the Rugby World Cup in France they would now feel they have a chance at making the quarter finals.

The All Blacks can take some positives out of this game, but will need to improve their back play for next weekend's Tri-Nations clash in South Africa. Too much sideways movement and few decoy runners allowed the defenders to slide across and make tackles, something South Africa excel at.

The return of a specialist centre will boost the back-line, and playing the top loose combination will undoubtedly improve the quality of play. But on this performance South Africa may have little to fear.