All Blacks Beat Italy in World Cup Debut

by Jordan Yerman | September 8, 2007 at 09:42 am

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New Zealand defeated Italy in their Pool C opener at the Marseille Velodrome, with three tries by winger Doug Howlett. The All Blacks dominated the match in tries, conversions and penalty goals.

The New Zealand Herald is loving it:

The All Blacks burst from the blocks and put their rugby World Cup
rivals on notice with a blistering 76-14 rout of Italy here today.

An
astonishing first quarter matched the heat of afternoon sun in
Marseille as the New Zealanders raced to a 38-0 lead inside 20 minutes.

The
pace eventually wilted in the heat but they still ended with 11 tries
to two against an Italian side who didn't come near the power and high
skill level of the tournament favourites.

The individual
highlight of a consummate team performance was winger Doug Howlett's
hattrick of tries, which moves him level with Christian Cullen's All
Blacks test record tally of 46.