Tony Brown and Jeff Wilson continued their love affair with North Harbour Stadium as New Zealand opened their 2001 Test campaign with a 50-6 win over Samoa in a bruising, unspectacular contest.
First-five Brown's haul of 30 points included a hat-trick of tries and preserved a remarkable average of 29 points from three Test appearances at the ground.
And by scoring the seventh and last try of the evening, winger Wilson brought his aggregate of five-pointers at the ground to 19 from six outings.
Apart from these milestones, and the fact that Carl Hayman and Mark Ranby jointly shared the honour of becoming the 1000th All Black by taking the field together, there wasn't too much to shout about in a generally workmanlike performance by the Men in Black.
Wayne Smith's men led 26-6 at half-time in challenging, slippery conditions and, through resolute and well-organised defence, did well to keep the spirited Samoans tryless.
New All Black captain Anton Oliver said that because the ball was so slippery, his team resorted to the kicking option a lot, to maintain pressure on the Samoans.
"They're a tough, physical side," said Oliver, "not one you put away easily. We'll take 50 points and be satisfied."
The positives for the All Blacks, apart from their watertight defence, were the efficiency of the line-out, the effectiveness of the Otago inside back pairing of Byron Kelleher and Brown, the go-forward achieved by forwards Ron Cribb and Troy Flavell and the attacking skills of wingers Doug Howlett and Wilson, on the infrequent occasions they were brought into play.
The biggest demerit mark went to the All Black scrum which made no impact on Samoa and which on occasions appeared to be under pressure.
Oliver conceded the scrum was something his forwards would have to focus on before next weekend when they engaged the power scrummagers from Argentina.
Brown had his, and New Zealand's, first try inside three minutes, created by Howlett who leapt high to gather a soaring "bomb" by Kelleher.
The next nine points were courtesy of Brown penalty goals as the Samoans persistently infringed under pressure.
Then came two well-taken tries, halfback Kelleher twice stretching the Samoan defence before lock Norm Maxwell (who also scored against the same opposition on the same ground in 1999) dived over, and Brown exploiting a huge gap from a line-out.
Returning from the interval 26-6 ahead, the All Blacks were across inside 90 seconds, Howlett capitalising on a sweetly-judged chip-kick through from fullback Leon MacDonald.
The most spectacular try of the evening came from a counter-attack launched 60 metres out, Brown eventually creating the overlap for Umaga who ran hard, then kicked ahead to the goalline. Umaga and Samoan halfback Steven So'oialo managed to eliminate each other, allowing Flavell, following up fast, to grab the five points.
A turnover under pressure cost Samoa the next score, with Wilson in-passing to Brown for his third try, and the scoring was completed with Wilson being put away by Flavell.
The best the Samoans could manage were two penalty goals by fullback Silao Leaega, who missed three other attempts. At no stage in the entire 80 minutes did the Samoans seriously threaten the All Black line.
New Zealand's new loose forward trio of Cribb, Marty Holah and Reuben Thorne worked most effectively in defence, with Cribb producing some dynamic running. Holah had a quiet introduction to international rugby, but was swift to the breakdowns.
Maxwell, Flavell and Cribb were unchallenged in the line-outs.
The Samoans, lacking world-class performers, were highly competitive in the scrum and in close-quarter play, but were flat out containing individuals like Howlett, Wilson, Kelleher, Cribb and Flavell.
Man of the match: Obviously, a case for giving it to Tony Brown for his 30-point (three try) performance, but some of his play was ragged. The individual who made no mistakes but challenged the Samoans repeatedly, with his pace and skill, was winger Doug Howlett, so we'll award it to the All Black No 14.
Moment of the Match: Fifteen minutes into the second half when Carl Hayman and Mark Ranby took the field in tandem, to share the honour of becoming the 1000th All Black.
Villain of the Match: Samoan second-five Fereti Tuilagi was on a last warning after two dangerous tackles, but he survived for 80 minutes, so no true villain notwithstanding the fact there were plenty of big, bruising tackles.
The Teams:
New Zealand: 1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Troy Flavell, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Ron Cribb, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Marty Holah, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Tony Brown, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jeff Wilson, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves: Carl Hayman, Mark Ranby
Samoa: 1 Polo Asi, 2 Trevor Leota, 3 Mark Luafalealo, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Craig Glendinning, 7 Semo Sititi (c), 8 Junior Paramore, 9 Stephen So'oilao, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Afato So'oalo, 12 Terry Fanolua, 13 Fereti Tuilagi, 14 Fa'apulou So'olefai, 15 Silao Leaega
Reserves: Ace Tiatia, Kas Lealamanu'a, Elvis Seveali'i, Patrick Segi, Setefano Tone
Attendance: 20000
Referee: Marshall p.
Points Scorers:
New Zealand
Tries: Flavell T.V. 1, Howlett D.C. 1, Brown T.E. 3, Maxwell N.M.C. 1, Wilson J.W. 1
Conv: Brown T.E. 3
Pen K.: Brown T.E. 3
Samoa
Pen K.: Leaega S. 2
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