NZ Maori on course for final
Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:29
New Zealand Maori beat Samoa 17-6 in Hamilton on Saturday to ensure themselves of a shot at the Pacific Nations Cup title.
New Zealand Maori have won three from three so far in the Cup and Samoa have lost all three, although they prevented the New Zealanders from totally dominating the match.
They kept Maori scoreless in the second spell but rarely looked like scoring a try themselves with few scraps of possession to play with.
Strong performances from Maori lock Jason Eaton, flank Liam Messam and No.8 Thomas Waldrom went a long way to keeping their stranglehold on the match.
Samoa's chances were not helped by losing lock Chad Slade for 10 minutes to a yellow card in the first spell and inside centre Anitelea Tuilagi following suit in the second half.
The New Zealanders expect to beat Japan next week and go through to a virtual final against Australia A on July 6 in Sydney, providing the Australians win on Sunday and next week.
Maori flyhalf Callum Bruce opened the scoring with a penalty after 11 minutes, and he kept the momentum going with the first try 16 minutes later.
The Maori's second try came two minutes before the break. The classy Messam and Waldrom combined in a burst upfield to put former All Black scrumhalf Piri Weepu in the clear for a try under the posts, although there were suspicions that the final pass was forward.
Bruce's second conversion gave the Maori a comfortable 17-0 halftime lead.
Samoa were the only scorers in the second half with well struck penalties to fullback Gavin Williams in the 45th and 65th minutes.
In other Pacific Nations matches on Sunday, Japan play Fiji in Tokyo and Australia A face Tonga in Sydney.
