| Time |
Score |
|
| |
|
Hello and welcome to live coverage as Namibia take on New Zealand in Pool C. The All Blacks, Rugby World Cup favourites, have rung the changes for their first ever Test meeting with Phil Davies' side, and will be looking to put on a show at the Olympic Stadium. Namibia on the other hand will be keen to avoid a cricket score.
The players are emerging from the tunnel, Jacques Burger again leads out Namibia alongside Sam Cane who becomes the fifth youngest All Blacks captain. Will he be the long-term replacement for Richie McCaw?
|
| 1 |
|
National anthems and haka out of the way, it's time for some rugby at the Olympic Stadium. Namibia kick deep into New Zealand territory and the All Blacks drive forwards ominously. But the free kick goes to the men in blue amid massive cheers.
|
| 2 |
|
The All Blacks get a shove on at the scrum and referee Romain Poite blows for a penalty to New Zealand.
|
| 3 |
|
Another penalty to the All Blacks as TJ Perenara is impeded. Boos ring out as Beauden Barrett goes for the posts...
|
| 4 |
0 - 3 |
Unsurprisingly Barrett makes no mistake and the All Blacks have a three-point lead.
|
| 5 |
0 - 8 |
Try to New Zealand! Julian Savea stretches his legs for the first time on the left wing and as the All Blacks recycle possession, Sonny Bill Williams spreads the ball wide for Victor Vito to score.
|
| 6 |
0 - 10 |
Barrett converts from wide on the left touchline, to put New Zealand 10-0 up.
|
| 7 |
|
|
| 9 |
0 - 15 |
Try for New Zealand! Savea comes infield for possession this time but the result is the same, Vito this time takes the ball further upfield and as the All Blacks spread the ball out right Nehe Milner-Skudder shows his pace to score.
|
| 10 |
|
Barrett's radar isn't perfect after all as he drifts the conversion wide of the far post.
|
| 12 |
|
Penalty to Namibia as the All Blacks are pinged for holding on. Theuns Kotze calls for the kicking tee...
|
| 13 |
3 - 15 |
And he's got it! Namibia are on the board and have broken their duck.
|
| 16 |
|
Poite blows for another penalty for the All Blacks as they put Namibia under severe pressure at a scrum. Barrett boots them deep into Namibia territory with it but the throw is intercepted.
|
| 17 |
|
The ball is charged down by Jerome Kaino eventually, and the decision is a 22 drop-out for Namibia. They are unable to regather and New Zealand have possession on halfway.
|
| 19 |
|
Another scrum collapsed, another penalty to the All Blacks. Barrett again kicks to the corner. Now can the All Blacks retain this one...
|
| 20 |
3 - 22 |
Try for New Zealand! The All Blacks secure possession and after some resistance spread the play, where a wonderful pass from Williams allows centre partner Malakai Fekitoa to canter over.
|
| 21 |
|
Barrett adds the extras and the All Blacks are one try away from a bonus point. Only a quarter gone.
|
| 22 |
6 - 22 |
Penalty to Namibia and Kotze sends it through the posts to huge cheers once more.
|
| 23 |
|
Just for a second Namibia had a sniff of a try but David Philander could not win the race to his hack forward.
|
| 25 |
|
New Zealand look to attack at pace once more but as Milner-Skudder is eventually stopped the ball is knocked on.
|
| 26 |
|
Namibia win the scrum and Kotze clears but it goes straight to Colin Slade. He looks to chip into space for Savea but the men in blue regather.
|
| 28 |
|
Forward pass as Milner-Skudder races clear. Before that Johan Deysel Jnr put in a bone-crushing tackle on Barrett after Savea had again crunched through the Namibia defence.
|
| 29 |
|
Penalty to New Zealand, which Barrett boots towards the Namibian 22.
|
| 30 |
6 - 27 |
That's the bonus point! Barrett breaks through the line and accelerates underneath the posts.
|
| 31 |
6 - 29 |
The New Zealand No.10 comfortably slots the extras.
|
| 32 |
|
Burger, who will be disappointed he missed the tackle on Barrett for the try, atones slightly as he makes good distance up the left flank and forces a penalty. Kotze kicks it into All Blacks territory.
|
| 33 |
|
Burger takes Namibia into the New Zealand 22 but a switch move is executed without the ball in midfield and New Zealand reclaim possession.
|
| 35 |
|
Poite is conferring with his TMO over a neck roll...
Tinus du Plessis is penalised for trying clear out Cane but grabbing him by his neck. Namibian penalty was coming and therefore overturned.
|
| 36 |
|
New Zealand drive forward again, backs and forwards handling with ease. Philander almost intercepts but he knocks on in the process.
|
| 37 |
|
|
| 39 |
|
Time off again as the scrum hits the deck. Poite talks to Johannes Coetzee and Ben Franks.
|
| 40 |
6 - 34 |
The TMO is called for as Milner-Skudder dives into the right corner. The finish is fine, and the try is awarded although Perenara looked suspiciously offside earlier in the move. The TMO seemed happy Cane did not touch the ball though.
Barrett is wide with the extras, keeping the score at 34-6 at the break.
|
| |
|
Tom Hamilton at the Olympic Stadium: It was always going to be one-sided and the All Blacks are already five tries to the good. Nehe Milner-Skudder was profligate against Argentina but already has two to his name here. Namibia have battled valiantly and they will awake this quiet crowd if they can somehow find a way across the try line in the second half.
|
| 40 |
|
We're back under way at the Olympic Stadium, where Steve Hansen has switched Slade to fly-half and Barrett back to fullback.
|
| 41 |
|
Boos ring out as a Namibia attack is brought to an abrupt end by an earlier knock on.
|
| 42 |
|
Penalty to Namibia as Barrett holds on after being tackled by du Plessis.
|
| 43 |
9 - 34 |
Kotze lines up another attempt at goal that sails over.
|
| 45 |
|
Good work from Vito and Perenara allows Milner-Skudder to stretch his legs on the right wing but he is smothered and Namibia hold the All Blacks out for now.
|
| 46 |
9 - 39 |
Try for New Zealand! Not for long though as the All Blacks regroup and Savea bursts through to notch his second try. Referee Poite goes upstairs but that confirms the winger got the ball down on the whitewash.
|
| 47 |
9 - 41 |
Barrett adds a simple conversion to nudge the All Blacks past 40 points.
|
| 49 |
|
New Zealand penalised for not rolling away and cheers ring round the Olympic Stadium as Kotze kicks for the corner. TV cameras show a broad smile on Phil Davies' face too.
Burger warned by the TMO about his technique when clearing out.
|
| 50 |
14 - 41 |
TRY FOR NAMIBIA! Torsten van Jaarsveld tidies up the lineout and as the men in blue keep the pressure alive, Deysel Jnr comes crashes through to score. Wonderful stuff.
|
| 51 |
|
Kotze misses the extras, but it doesn't dampen the mood in the Olympic Stadium.
|
| 52 |
|
Meanwhile, Slade has departed with Ben Smith coming off. That means the fly-half experiment lasted roughly 10 minutes as Barrett steps backs into the playmaker role.
|
| 54 |
|
Penalty to New Zealand as Namibia penalised at the scrum. Barrett kicks to the corner.
|
| 55 |
|
Vito rises to take the line-out impressively. Kieran Read is in position but the ball is out and Barrett almost sets WIlliams free.
|
| 56 |
|
The All Blacks recycle the ball but are camped on the Namibian five-metre line without being quite able to camp through. Two men in blue are offside though and Jaco Engels is sent to the sin bin.
|
| 57 |
|
Huge scrum for Namibia, but it has to be reset.
|
| 58 |
|
The world champions win another penalty, and call for another scrum.
|
| 59 |
|
Replacement Namibia prop Raoul Larsen is forced off for a head injury assessment.
|
| 60 |
14 - 46 |
Try for New Zealand! The All Blacks are able to use this scrum, get the ball wide and after some initial resistance Ben Smith goes over in the right corner.
|
| 62 |
|
A difficult conversion for Barrett and he hooks it wide.
|
| 63 |
|
|
| 64 |
|
Namibia have a line-out inside the All Blacks' 22. New Zealand win the turnover though, and ultimately win the scrum for offside.
|
| 65 |
|
|
| 66 |
|
New Zealand look to run the ball from inside their own 22 but as Savea revs up his engine, he is bundled into touch.
|
| 68 |
|
Scrum to Namibia for a Savea knock-on as Larsen returns after his head injury assessment.
|
| 69 |
|
Philander shows some space on the right wing but he can't stay out of touch.
|
| 71 |
|
Scrum penalty to New Zealand as Namibia hinge. Barrett kicks towards the corner.
|
| 72 |
|
The All Blacks blitz towards the try-line with Luke Romano breaches the whitewash but does he get the ball down? We're going upstairs...
No try as an accidental offside earlier in the move scuppers any hopes Romano had.
|
| 74 |
14 - 51 |
Try to New Zealand! Penalty to New Zealand which Barrett again boots to the corner. Codie Taylor finds Vito in the line-out, Cane takes control before Perenara gets the ball out and feeds Savea to dive over. But Poite goes upstairs to check for double movement. Nothing wrong with that though.
|
| 75 |
|
Barrett misses a difficult conversion, but New Zealand have breached the 50-point mark.
|
| 76 |
|
Namibia gamely attack but Kotze chip forward is easy for Ben Smith and he can counter for New Zealand.
|
| 77 |
|
Just as the All Blacks look like scoring another try though, Ma'a Nonu knocks the ball on. Meanwhile, Milner-Skudder has been confirmed of the game's man of the match.
|
| 79 |
14 - 56 |
Try for New Zealand! The All Blacks possibly save their best try for last. Barrett picks out Milner-Skudder on the right wing with a delightful chip and the winger dishes a sublime pass inside for hooker Codie Taylor to latch onto and canter over in the right corner.
|
| 80 |
14 - 58 |
Barrett lands one from the right touchline too to add gloss to the scoreline, but take nothing away from Namibia they battled gamely tonight.
|
| |
|
Tom Hamilton at the Olympic Stadium: In the end the All Blacks simply had too much for Namibia. But in this small corner of east London, the men from southern Africa have made a lot of new friends tonight. Namibia refused to cower under their underdogs tag and instead attempted to go toe-to-toe with New Zealand. Johan Deysel's second-half score brought the house down. It was thoroughly deserved and testament to all of their endeavours. For the All Blacks, it was job done. This was always a banana skin and they came through the test with the bonus point and without any injuries.
|
