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Approval for Maori rout

Showing superior all-round skills the Maori team beat Canada 51-9 in Vancouver.

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New Maori coach Clayton McMillan said he was 'really happy' with the performance.

"It's no easy feat to come halfway across the world and put in a performance like we did. We didn't get it all our way and Canada was quite in the game in lots of areas," he told allblacks.com.

The side's set-piece play had been crucial, the scrum was dominant while they were able to launch plays from their line-out control.

"I'm really happy with the forwards' performance but the backs played their part as well. There's still a lot to work on, there's no doubt about that. But, as a starting point, with a lot of new guys, I'm really happy," he said.

The yellow cards to flank Dan Pryor and centre Tim Bateman were down to sloppiness, he said.

They had been looking to use their line speed to put pressure on the Canadians but they had been sloppy in those instances and he was confident they would have that sorted before next week.

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The defensive effort, especially when playing 20 minutes with 14 men, had been effective and they had created a base to build on.

McMillan said the coaches would be looking for more accuracy in next weekend's game in France.

They had scored some nice tries from the good platform they had created and they just needed to tidy up some areas and be more efficient and ruthless with their ball to get an improved performance.

He was delighted with the way the new players to the side performed. Those who came on as substitutes had given new energy to the performance and had achieved what the coaches asked them to do.

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"I'm sure they'll reflect on this day with a lot of pride and build from here," he said.

It was one-way traffic for the full 80 minutes in British Columbia, 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 line-out.

With the Canucks dispatched, the Maori 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.

Scorers:

For Canada:

Pens: Staller 3

For Maori:

Tries: Curtis, Ioane, Franklin, Ngatai, Stevenson, Garden-Bachop, Wainui

Cons: West 4, Garden-Bachop

Pens: West 2

Teams:

Canada: 15 Andrew Coe, 14 Brock Staller, 13 Ben LeSage, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 11 Dan Moor, 10 Patrick Parfrey, 9 Phil Mack (captain), 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Matt Heaton, 6 Dustin Dobravsky, 5 Josh Larsen, 4 Kyle Baillie, 3 Matt Tierney, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.

Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Ryan Kotlewski, 19 Lucas Rumball, 20 Evan Olmstead, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Robbie Povey, 23 Kainoa Lloyd.

Maori All Blacks: 15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Ambrose Curtis, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Dan Pryor, 6 Tom Franklin, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Ash Dixon (captain), 1 Chris Eves.

Replacements: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Jordan Manihere, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Shaun Stevenson.

 

Referee: Kurt Weaver (USA)

Source: allblacks.com

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