Jordan hits All Blacks record against 14-man Italy
MATCH REPORT: The All Blacks maintained their flawless record against Italy with a commanding 47-17 victory in their Nations Championship Round Two clash in Wellington on Saturday.
Despite a sluggish start, Dave Rennie’s men produced a clinical second-half display to pull away from the visitors, eventually outscoring Italy by seven tries to two.
*To recap the action CLICK HERE!!!
Will Jordan etched his name into the record books, becoming the All Blacks’ all-time leading try-scorer after bagging a hat-trick to take his remarkable tally to 50 tries.
For Italy, it was a brave first half display, but their second half proved to be a challenge while the task was not made easier in the 51st minute when Italy lock Niccolò Cannone was shown a red card, handing the All Blacks a numerical advantage for the remainder of the contest.
The result means that New Zealand make it two wins from two in the inaugural 12-nation competition, while Italy have yet to secure a victory.
Italy made the perfect start, stunning the Wellington crowd by drawing first blood.
A swift counterattack caught the All Blacks napping as a long pass split the defence before Tommaso Menoncello and Malik Faissal combined brilliantly. The centre crossed for the opening try of the contest, with fullback Tommaso Allan adding the conversion to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
The All Blacks responded immediately. A well-executed line-out set the platform for a powerful driving maul before several strong carries created the opening for Sam Darry to crash over from close range. Ruben Love converted to level the scores.
Italy continued to apply pressure, camping inside the All Blacks’ 22 and forcing the hosts into repeated infringements. Allan made no mistake from the penalty spot to restore the visitors’ advantage at 10-7.
The home side were made to work hard for their points but eventually edged in front in the 30th minute. A costly defensive lapse by Italy allowed Will Jordan to race over for the try, putting New Zealand ahead 14-10.
Despite taking the lead, the All Blacks struggled to impose themselves on attack. Italy’s disciplined defensive line repeatedly frustrated the hosts, ensuring New Zealand took only a slender four-point advantage into the halftime break.
The All Blacks came out with renewed intent after the break and immediately seized control of the contest. Patient build-up play, sparked by a superb take from Will Jordan and a powerful run from Josh Moorby, created the opening for Cam Roigard to dive over beneath the posts.
Italy looked to respond with ball in hand, but a wayward grubber kick gifted possession back to the hosts. The All Blacks capitalised in devastating fashion, with Moorby once again heavily involved before a series of powerful carries ended with prop Ethan de Groot crashing over to extend the lead to 26-10.
The visitors’ hopes suffered another major blow in the 51st minute when lock Niccolò Cannone was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head collision. Following a TMO review, the sanction was upgraded to a red card, leaving Italy to play the next 20 minutes with 14 men.
New Zealand quickly made their numerical advantage count. Jordan crossed for back-to-back tries to complete his hat-trick and become the All Blacks’ all-time leading try-scorer, taking his career tally to 50 while stretching the hosts’ lead to 40-10.
To their credit, Italy refused to go away. Leonardo Marin crossed for a deserved try, with Paolo Garbisi adding the conversion to reduce the deficit to 40-17.
It was a difficult outing for the Azzurri, who were dealt a double injury blow after losing influential wing Malik Faissal at halftime before fullback Tommaso Allan was forced off during the second.
There were some drama, with Ruben Love initially shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, but the decision was overturned after the TMO ruled that Italy had knocked the ball on first.
The All Blacks had the final word as Tupou Vaa’i powered over from close range to wrap up a comprehensive victory in Wellington.
Player of the match: For Italy, Tommaso Menoncello was a standout for his team, making strong carries and the heart of his team attack. However, our nod goes to Will Jordan. The wing was influential and scored a hat-trick of tries becoming the All Blacks record try-scorer and eclipsed the long-standing tally of former fullback Doug Howlett.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: Darry, Jordan 3, Roigard, De Groot, Vaa’i,
Cons: Love 6
For Italy:
Tries: Menoncello, Garbisi
Cons: Allan, Garbisi
Pen: Allan
Red card: Niccolo Cannone (Italy, 51 – head on head collision)
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Sam Darry, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Anton Segner, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Malik Faissal, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Louis Lynagh, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Ross Vintcent, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Giulio Marini, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Riccardo Favretto, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Leonardo Marin.
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) & Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
