New Zealand 74-6 Scotland: Kiwis hammer Scots
Last Updated: 04/11/17 11:54am
New Zealand thumped Scotland 74-6 in their World Cup Group B match in Christchurch, where Shaun Johnson became their most-prolific scorer in history.
Johnson scored one of his side's 14 tries and kicked nine goals for a personal haul of 22 points that took him past Matthew Ridge's record of 168 while winger Peta Hiku and stand-off Te Maire Martin both grabbed hat-tricks as New Zealand put Scotland to the sword.
It was sweet revenge for the Kiwis after being held to a 18-18 draw in their last meeting with Scotland in Workington 12 months earlier as they followed up their opening 38-8 win over Samoa with another ruthless display in front of a 12,130 crowd.
The Bravehearts, who had no answer to New Zealand's awesome off-loading game, have conceded 124 points in their first two games and now need to pick themselves up for their final group game against Samoa in Cairns next weekend.
Scotland actually made a bright start, putting the Kiwis under some early pressure, but once the hosts got on a roll they were virtually unstoppable.
Winger Jason Nightingale got on the end of a flowing move to grab his first try and second-row forwards Kenny Bromwich and Joseph Tapine both crossed the line as New Zealand ran in three tries in a six-minute spell that turned the match into one of damage limitation for the Bravehearts.
Scotland could not get their hands on the ball in the first half and the introduction from the bench of powerful forwards Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Addin Fonua-Blake simply added more firepower to the Kiwis' menacing attack.
Nightingale grabbed his second try on 22 minutes, taking his total for his country to 19, while Martin got his first and former Warrington player Hiku rounded off the first-half scoring with his side's sixth try just before the break.
The 28-0 lead would have been greater but for an off day with the boot from Johnson, who succeeded with just two of his six attempts.
But New Zealand had the breeze at their backs in the second half and they piled on the agony for Steve McCormack's men with three further tries within 15 minutes of the restart.
Prop Russell Packer stepped out of the attempted tackle of Kane Bentley to score his first for his country and Martin sliced through the Scotland defence for his second before breaking clear to get centre Dean Whare over.
Scotland's abject performance was summed up on 58 minutes when skipper Danny Brough failed to find touch with a penalty and Hiku took full advantage to score his second try.
The outstanding Roger Tuivasa-Sheck then carved out a try that enabled Johnson to break Ridge's record and Hiku won the race to Johnson's grubber kick to complete his hat-trick 10 minutes from the end.
Half-back Oscar Thomas prevented a whitewash with a nice sidestep that got him over for a try, which Danny Addy goaled, but there was still time for Martin to complete his hat-trick and hooker Elijah Taylor applied the finishing touches with his side's 14th try.
