New Zealand beat Georgia to reach Rugby World Cup quarters
Last Updated: 03/10/15 3:11pm
New Zealand moved into the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals by predictably beating Georgia 43-10 and securing a bonus point - but it was a performance laced with errors.
The All Blacks suffered an injury scare when skipper Richie McCaw made a 60th-minute exit after being on the receiving end of a crunching tackle and immediately had ice applied to two separate areas on his leg.
It summed up the physically testing encounter.
The world champion All Blacks' 43-10 Millennium Stadium triumph tightened their grip on Pool C and secured a last-eight spot, yet coach Steve Hansen may have been left unimpressed.
New Zealand scored four first-half tries, wing Julian Savea crossing twice and his fellow wing Waisake Naholo - back in action 10 weeks after breaking his leg - also touching down, while hooker Dane Coles went over wide out.
But they were restricted to only three second-half scores, with No 8 Kieran Read adding a 48th-minute try and Savea completing his hat-trick before substitute Malakai Fekitoa crossed.
But the biggest cheers among a 69,000 crowd were reserved for Georgia, whose captain and flanker Mamuka Gorgodze was named man of the match.
Full-back Beka Tsiklauri claimed an early breakaway try while fly-half Lasha Malaguradze outshone his celebrated opposite number Dan Carter in the goalkicking department.
While an out-of-sorts Carter missed three conversions out of seven, Malaguradze added the extras to Tsiklauri's try and landed a long-range penalty.
It took New Zealand just 73 seconds to open up Georgia's defence, as slick midfield passing resulted in Naholo powering through a huge gap to touch down unopposed, with Carter's conversion making it 7-0.
Georgia, though, responded just three minutes later by scoring the quickest try in their World Cup history when Tsiklauri reacted rapidly to a bouncing ball in open play, made the most of his good fortune and finished off in style.
The score sparked wild celebrations among his team-mates, with Malaguradze's conversion pegging back New Zealand, but the All Blacks were back in front three minutes later when Savea bundled over Tsiklauri for a trademark try.
Malaguradze kicked a penalty from just inside New Zealand's half to cut the deficit, but the All Blacks went in to overdrive as Savea scored again before a brilliant handling move ended with McCaw delivering a scoring pass to Coles.
Carter missed his third successive conversion attempt, but the world champions had a try-scoring bonus point inside 23 minutes and appeared well on their way to a landslide win.
The stubborn resistance that followed just wasn't in keeping with the script and New Zealand know they have much to work on in their quest for a successful world title defence.
