Maori All Blacks win big in Toronto

The Maori All Blacks kicked off their tour of North America with a 40-15 win over Canada in an entertaining clash at BMO Field in Toronto.

In front of a 22 000-strong sellout crowd, the biggest in the history of Canadian rugby, the Maori outscored their hosts six tries to two with scrum-half Jamison Gipson-Park bagging a brace.

In ice-cold but sunny conditions, Canada were first to strike via a try from wing Jeff Hassler but, despite some promising play from the men in red, the Maori would do all the scoring until half-time.

Tries from Man of the Match Zac Guildford, full-back Robbie Robinson and Gipson-Park — who was a late replacement for Piri Weepu — saw the tourists take a 19-5 lead into the break.

Gipson-Park scored again early in the second half but Canada fought back through a try from captain Aaron Carpenter and a penalty from the boot of Liam Underwood.

With Canada trailing by just 11 points, replacement wing Matt Proctor landed a killer blow, scoring a try in the 68th minute.

Nick Barrett added the icing on the Kiwi cake with a late try, profiting from panic in the Canadian ranks.

The Maori All Blacks now travel to Philadelphia for next weekend's clash with the USA Eagles while Canada head to Europe to face Georgia, Romania and Portugal.

The scorers:

For Canada:
Tries:  Hassler, Carpenter
Cons:  Underwood
Pens:  Underwood

For Maori All Blacks:
Tries:  Guildford 2, Gibson Park 2, Robinson, Barrett
Cons:  Taylor 2, Robinson, West

Canada:  15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Harry Jones, 11 Conor Trainor, 10 Liam Underwood, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Jon Phelan, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens,Replacments:  16 Jake Ilnicki, 17 Ryan March, 18 Aaron Flagg, 19 Kyle Gilmour, 20 Adam Kleeberger, 21 Jamie Mackenzie, 22 Pat Parfrey, 23 Connor Braid.

Maori All Blacks:  15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Andre Taylor, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Tim Bateman, 9 Jamison Gipson-Park, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Kane Hames,
Replacements:  16 Chris Eves, 17 Nick Barrett, 18 Ash Dixon, 19 Blade Thomson, 20 Shane Christie, 21 , 22 Ihaia West, 23 Matt Proctor

Venue:  BMO Field, Toronto
Referee:  Federico Anselmi (Argentina)