KEY POINTS:
All Blacks centre Conrad Smith had more than one reason to grin after playing his part in Wellington's 68-7 mauling of Otago at Westpac Stadium in Wellington last night.
Smith, whose international season was ruined by a lingering hamstring injury, ran freely, tackled industriously and passed sweetly - all hallmarks of his game - but blotted his night by gifting Otago a try in the 15th minute.
His ability to do the right thing at the right time was a bit rusty and Smith was left looking sheepish after his attempted chip and collect was sidefooted into the arms of Otago left wing Alipate Fatafehi who gleefully scooted over for his side's only try, converted by Callum Bruce.
"Obviously (I made) a few mistakes that I didn't enjoy making but it was good to get through it," Smith said.
"It (the kick) was a shocker, I think I'm going to have to live with it for the rest of my life ... ," he added, explaining the kick was on but it had come off his shin.
"That is the problem when you have been (doing nothing but) training for two months and I realised afterwards this was a real game after they had scored the try and I just had to hang my head."
Smith said he was pretty tired after 10 minutes then got used to the pace.
"I felt I was pretty much there in terms of fitness and speed and getting a feel for the game again which takes a bit of time but hopefully I will get through the next two games (before he leaves for the World Cup."
A young and inexperienced Otago had little to call on to repel a rampant Wellington who ran in nine tries.
It was Wellington's biggest win over Otago, surpassing the 40-9 score in 1959, and Otago's heaviest ever defeat since going down 19-62 to Canterbury in 2001.
Too many missed tackles and turnovers proved costly for Otago, coach Steve Martin said.
"We have to put this behind us and ensure it remains our worst performance of the year.
"Fortunately... there are plenty of games left to collect the points we need to make the playoffs."
Last year's losing finalists signalled their credentials as credible challengers for this year's title with a swift, wide-running game that coach Aussie McLean indicated was their goal this season.
Unwanted All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu was lively behind a dominant forward pack and finished off the opening try of the match in the fifth minute after making the initial break down the right.
He has held his peace all week since losing his World Cup ticket but did his talking last night by scoring another try in the second half.
Second-five Tamati Ellison, making his debut as skipper, led from the front.
He was busy and inventive, ran hard and deservedly scored a couple of tries.
Also scoring two tries was substitute hooker Dane Coles.
The try of the match went to left wing Shannon Paku.
He carved through the centre of the Otago defence over 50m to score under the crossbar 9min before halftime.
McLean said the hard part now was to maintain such form and look for improvements.
- NZPA
