KEY POINTS:
Kangaroos 58
Kiwis 0
The build-up to the centenary test had been about the long-deceased pioneers of the game but the Kiwis mangled the message at Wellington's Cake Tin yesterday, digging their own grave in a record defeat by Australia.
There was too much ill-discipline, too many errors and little invention in the Kiwis' attack as they crashed to their worst scoreline, eclipsing the 52-0 loss in the Anzac test in Sydney in 2000. It would have been worse had Cameron Smith had his kicking boots on but he landed seven of 11 kicks.
It was a horror start for new coach Gary Kemble, who admitted the side was flat and lacked resolve.
The home side gifted turnovers early on and kept allowing the Kangaroos leeway in getting the ball wide to their big three-quarters, while persisting with attempts at big hits in defence, rather than maintaining a solid line.
At 22 minutes, Kiwis centre Steve Matai was dismissed after KO-ing opposite Mark Gasnier with what referee Steve Ganson said was a late and high upper-arm shot to the head. Gasnier was taken off and Matai followed him up the tunnel and with him went the Kiwis' chances. Within another 11 minutes the scoreline had blown out to 26-0.
The Kiwis had lost left wing Luke Covell in the fifth minute with an arm injury, bringing Shontayne Hape into the game early and shortening their bench to three. There was no way a team cut to 12 and with one fewer than the Aussies in interchange was going to come back. It was a matter of what they'd lose by.
"Even with 12 men I thought we could have played better," Kemble said, though offering no excuses. "We were beaten by a better team."
The surface was in remarkably good condition considering the week of rain that preceded the game, with an intermittent northwest wind offering hope to the high kickers. Both teams had predicted and prepared for a grind and they played that way regardless of the hard and fast surface.
The Aussies' youngest player, giant wing Israel Folau, scored the first points, the 18-year-old powering around Ben Roberts and over Roy Asotasi then barrelling fullback Krisnan Inu back over the try-line in a 20-metre burst.
When Jeremy Smith went high and conceded a penalty, Steve Price went through Jeff Lima and scored near the posts and the conversion made it 12-0 after 22 minutes. Matai went next play and five minutes later centre Greg Inglis went in at the left corner. The Kangaroos then took the attack to the Kiwis' left and without Matai there they busted through for tries to Folau and Jarryd Hayne.
The Kiwis were never in position to create a scoring threat and the half ended 26-0. It was just seven minutes before Inglis ran in again as numbers and overlaps told and fullback Brett Stewart followed him over. Five-eighth Greg Bird continually cut the Kiwis up to create chances for others and scored himself, Inglis got a hat-trick, Willie Mason scored and threw the ball at a crowd that had booed him. Smith had the 11th and last try and the goal to create the record.
Stuart called it a clinical performance from his team. From the kickoff, which came off the Australian posts and rebounded to the Kiwis, they had measured up. "We set the trend of the game from that first set of six."
They pressured the Kiwis halves well and stifled their attack.
"There wasn't a player who didn't stand up today. We needed to have some individual bests out there today and there was."
Kangaroos skipper Cameron Smith said controlled aggression and good ball control was a key. "We went through the middle of the Kiwis and ran them off their feet."
The only positive for New Zealand was that the pool of players who know how bad it feels to lose like that has been expanded by six. But neither those new players nor many of the old hands bar captain Asotasi, vice-captain Paul Whatuira and Simon Mannering did anything yesterday to suggest they should be test regulars. If there are not better results from the England tour, Kemble's tenure will be short and he knows it. They have to win four from four on tour now, Kemble said, declaring himself confident he has the skills to make it as coach at top level.
Maybe it was the bad weather that put people off buying tickets, maybe it was the late kickoff that was timed to suit Aussie television, but the poor crowd of 16,681 will prompt an NZRL rethink about taking games to the capital, as well as start times.
