New Zealand’s rein under Dave Rennie got off to a winning start, toppling France 34-32 in the opening round of the Nations Championship. Against a weakened Les Bleus 23, the All Blacks would have been wanting a much more comfortable victory, as the visitors made things interesting with a late try trimming the margin to just two points. The All Blacks kept their cool, though, keeping possession in the final couple of minutes to close out the bonus-point win in Christchurch, capping off what was a very entertaining contest.
Ruben Love was dished a yellow card and New Zealand conceded a try in the opening two minutes, setting the tone for what was a chaotic opening 20 minutes, seeing the All Blacks hit the front 12-10, before heading into the sheds up 19-13. The hosts could never really gain a foothold on the game, as France’s ball-running and defensive pressure kept them in the fight, but some moments of brilliance from the likes of Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett gave New Zealand enough punch to get the job done.
Italy were humbled in their Nations Championship opener, getting well beaten by Japan 10-27. It was a shock loss for the Azzurri, who came into the game as 9.5-point favourites and were fielding virtually a full-strength team in Tokyo, and the loss came despite a hot start, as Ignacio Brex sliced the Japanese defence in half and galloped away for a try and a 7-0 lead inside the opening five minutes. Their good work was swiftly undone, though, as they gave up a couple of tries in quick succession to see the Brave Blossoms hit the lead, and Italy were never able to recover. There were few clear scoring opportunities for Italy, gaining just five entries into Japan’s 22, and they lacked ambition on attack, often taking an age to clear their own ball and build phases. Most hurtful, though, was their lack of ball security, highlighted by their 26 turnovers lost, with their handling being particularly bad in Tokyo. They shot themselves in the foot time and time again with knock ons and inaccurate passes, and their lineout did them no favours either in what was a terrible start to their July window.
In response, Eddie Jones had made a few changes to his XV, as South African-born Ross Vintcent (blindside), Australian-born Louis Lynagh (wing) and veteran Tommaso Allan (fullback) come into the run-on side. Allan’s stability and experience at the back may well see more of a kicking-focused approach from the Brave Blossoms. Rennie has been a bit more liberal with his changes, with Tyrel Lomax, Tupou Vaa’i and Wallace Sititi all coming into the starting pack. In the back, Leroy Carter and Billy Proctor get starting roles, while Josh Moorby and Anton Segner both look set to earn their debuts off the bench.
It’s another energetic All Blacks team which will be a handful to contain, and while we can’t read too much into one poor Japanese performance last week, the visitors are going to be far behind New Zealand on the scoreboard. The line is 31.5 points at the time of writing but I expect that to drift out come kick off. The relentless attack of the hosts is going to wear down the Azzurri and their defence is going to wear away as the game goes on. I can’t see this one being at all close.
Best
New Zealand -31.5 ($1.90)
Value
New Zealand 41-50 ($5.00)
Try Scorer
Codie Taylor ($9.50 First, $1.68 Anytime)
Same Game Multi
Codie Taylor Try / Ruben Love Try / Damian McKenzie Try / Ardie Savea Try ($17.92)