LONDON, (Reuters) – Will the real Rugby World Cup holders please stand up? Three games, three wins and a quarter-final place secured but New Zealand are still searching for fluency.
The misfiring All Blacks won an arm wrestle with Georgia yesterday, scoring seven tries in a 43-10 victory in Cardiff but making a slew of uncharacteristic handling errors in a scrappy and sloppy display.
“We realise we need to be better,” New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said.
“We were trying too hard at times. There is no panic… we have seven days to fix it before Tonga (in their last Pool C game).”
While fierce rivals England and Australia prepared to do battle at Twickenham in a must-win game for the under-fire hosts, New Zealand can turn their minds to the knockout stage. There were pluses for Steve Hansen’s side in their 50th match since they lifted the trophy for a second time in 2011.
Rookie winger Waisake Naholo made an explosive return 10 weeks after breaking his leg, scoring the opening try after 73 seconds — the fastest of the tournament.
Prolific winger Julian Savea took his tally to 35 tries in 38 test with a hat-trick but the moment of the night belonged to Georgia fullback Beka Tsiklauri who could not quite believe it when he hacked through to pick up and score a try soon after Naholo.
CLINICAL FINISHING
The hosts must show Savea’s clinical finishing and beat Australia on Saturday if they are to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first England team not to make the quarter-finals.
They go into the Pool A game slight favourites with the bookmakers and the showdown is expected to attract the most money ever gambled on a rugby match with more than 10 million pounds ($15.16) wagered, Britain’s William Hill said.
Tickets have also been changing hands for eye-catching amounts with re-sale website Viagogo saying this week that two tickets were purchased for the match at 4,000 pounds each — the highest price ever paid for a non-finals ticket.
If Australia needed any more motivation to put one over the ‘poms’ then England flyhalf Danny Cipriani may have provided it.