All Blacks remain unbeaten on RGR tour

This victory means that the New Zealanders have completed their pre-Test schedule with three wins from as many matches after they also beat the DHL Stormers in Cape Town (38-21) and the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban (54-0).

The result was never in doubt, as the visitors took a 24-0 lead at the break, despite some early resistance by the men in blue in front of an appreciative crowd of 30,930, which pushed the total attendance for the three franchise games to 93,000.

While the All Blacks showed their class, the Vodacom Bulls had a number of try-scoring opportunities, with a few of them denied by the TMO.

However, when they lost a player to the sin bin with the Kiwis leading by 12-0 – at that stage the Vodacom Bulls had two tries disallowed – the visitors struck and added two more five-points to take their lead to 24-0 at the break.

The Vodacom Bulls played much better in the second half and scored three tries. Ruan Vermaak and Marcell Coetzee were hard to stop close to the line, while Stravino Jacobs scored a pearl from a blindside attack on halfway, with Jeandre Rudolph and Curwin Bosch, in his first game for his new team, also prominent.

In the end, the highlights were too few and far between for the hosts, while the New Zealanders will regard their three franchise victories as mission accomplished as all the focus now turns to the first Test, which will be played at 10bet Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday (kick-off 17h10, live on SuperSport).

**Scorers:**

**Vodacom Bulls 19 (0)** – Tries: Ruan Vermaak, Stravino Jacobs, Marcell Coetzee. Conversions: Curwin Bosch, Hakeem Kunene.

**All Blacks 50 (24)** – Tries: Josh Moorby (2), Cody Taylor (2), Leroy Carter (2), Rieko Ioane, Wallace Sititi. Consversions: Beauden Barrett, Josh Jacomb (4).

Masters of controlling the pace and tempo of the game, the All Blacks were nonetheless forced to work hard for every inch, and the first half closed out with the visitors on attack, but under so much pressure that the effort finished off with a wild pass into touch.

A side this good does not dwell on the past and they threw everything into their third try, initially held up over the tryline but an offsides penalty was tapped and after a couple of recycles at close quarters, the ball was sent out wide for another touchline try, and another well-struck conversion for a 21-0 lead five minutes into the second half.

Seven minutes later they went over for their fourth try, the bobbling ball in the red zone eluding everyone but the All Blacks fortuitously and then the conversion from out wide once more bang on target for a 28-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining.

Further tries came in the 60th and 62nd minutes with Ma’a Nonu coming on to face the team he won two Rugby World Cups with, and who enjoyed a 42-0 lead with a little less than a final quarter left to play.

With 10 minutes remaining, a well-crafted multi-phase attack culminated in another try in the corner, with the conversion missing the mark for the first time in the game as the All Blacks’ score approached the 50-point mark.

They hit the half century in the 75th minute as they upped the tempo on attack, the conversion taking them into a 54-0 lead.

There was a flash of light in the closing moments as Jurenzo Julius showcased his attacking prowess, but he was cut down barely a handful of metres from the tryline to close out the match.  

**Scorers:**

**Hollywoodbets Sharks 0**

**All Blacks 54 (14)** – Tries: Fehi Fineanganofo (2), Damian McKenzie, Caleb Clarke, Jordie Barrett, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Sam Darry. Conversions: Love (6).

Source: Original report at SA Rugby.