New Zealand run in eight tries to thrash Japan in Tokyo
New Zealand kicked off their end-of-year tour in impressive fashion with a 54-6 rout of Japan.
Last Updated: 02/11/13 1:00pm
Winger Charles Piutau led the way with two tries as the All Blacks brushed aside the Brave Blossoms, who were missing their coach Eddie Jones as he continues his recovery from a stroke.
The World Cup winners scored eight tries in total, with Sam Cane, Ben Smith, Richie McCaw, Jeremy Thrush, Frank Halai and Beauden Barrett also crossing.
Dan Carter slotted over five conversions, while Barrett rounded off an impressive day with two further conversions.
The All Blacks blotted their copybook when Cane was sin-binned, however Japan were unable to take full advantage.
Full-back Ayumu Goromaru did slot over two conversions for Japan but they lacked the cutting edge against a watertight All Blacks defence.
However, New Zealand coach Steve Hansen wasn't happy with everything he saw.
"I'm disappointed with some of the players and I'll tell them," Hansen told reporters. "They had to get up for a game we were expected to win and some didn't manage to do that.
"We got caught occasionally trying to play Japan's game, which they play better than we do, a helter-skelter game. There were some lessons to be learned. But we scored eight tries so we can't grumble too much."
