Rugby: Maori All Blacks win big against Canada in Vancouver

Ambrose Curtis of the Maori All Blacks dives in for a try during a match against Canada. Photo / Photosport

The Maori All Blacks have battered a flaky Canada side from pillar to post, winning Saturday's match 51-9 in Vancouver (NZT).

It was one-way traffic for the full 80 minutes in British Columbia as the Maori All Blacks ran in an unanswered seven tries, accounting for a Canadian outfit missing several of their regular overseas-based players.

Chiefs-based midfielder Charlie Ngatai impressed in an unfamiliar fullback role, scoring a try and dropping in and out of the attack at will.

The Maori All Blacks forwards were also far too strong at the scrum and lineout.

With the Canucks dispatched, Clayton McMillan's troops will now head across the pond for next week's clash with the French Barbarians in Bordeaux.

They're likely to present more of a challenge than the Canadians.

The Maori All Blacks enjoyed almost 70 per cent of territory in the opening stanza as their speed and precision befuddled Les Rouges.

Yet it took some time for their dominance to show on the scoreboard.

Aided by the boot of goal-kicking winger Brock Staller - and by Dan Pryor's yellow card - the Canadians remained within one point by the 25-minute mark, having conceded the match's opening try to a speedy Ambrose Curtis.

But a barnstorming Akira Ioane effort subsequently put daylight between the sides, and a late Tom Franklin try sent the Maori All Blacks into the sheds 27-9 ahead.

Appearing set to dominate the second half, the Maori All Blacks again found themselves quelled by a yellow card, this time to Tim Bateman for a high tackle.

Yet the Canucks couldn't take advantage, and instead conceded a fourth try in the 54th minute to a counter-attacking Ngatai.

The return of Bateman duly cemented his side's dominance, while a sin-binning to Northland-based Canadian lock Josh Larsen served to make matters worse.

Additional straightforward tries to Shaun Stevenson, Jackson Garden-Bachop and Sean Wainui closed out the one-sided match.

-AAP