All Blacks cruise in Game of Three Halves

The All Blacks have defeated Taranaki 57-7 and Counties Manukau 49-0 in their annual 'Game of Three Halves' in Pukekohe.

The All Blacks have blown out the cobwebs in style, obliterating Taranaki and Counties Manukau in the "Game of Three Halves".

It was a case of men against boys in Pukekohe, as the world champions prepared for next weekend's Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship opener against Australia with a 57-7 first-up demolition of Taranaki and then a 49-0 win over the Steelers.

Earlier, Counties defeated Taranaki 28-7.

Handed a licence to attack and entertain, Steve Hansen's troops threw the ball around willingly and ran at every opportunity.

In their first 40-minute match against the Bulls, the All Blacks carved open the defence at will, scoring 10 tries to one through the likes of Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Lima Sopoaga, Waisake Naholo and Ben Smith.

For Taranaki, Sione Lea crashed over via a rolling maul.

Changing most of their XV for their second match against Counties, the All Blacks were no less fluent, running in an unanswered seven tries.

Sam Cane grabbed a double, followed by tries to Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Sopoaga, who played the lion's share of the match at No.10 and impressed.

Late tries to Nathan Harris, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Ioane - a constant threat down the left edge - then closed out the contest.


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Source: AAP


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All Blacks cruise in Game of Three Halves | SBS News