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All Blacks demolish sorry Italians
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- New Zealand opened their World Cup campaign in emphatic style with an 11-try demolition of Italy under the roof at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium. But they could be without center Tana Umaga for the rest of the tournament after he injured his left knee. Auckland trio Carlos Spencer, Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko scored two tries apiece but Spencer's continued kicking fallibility will be a worry to them. The All Blacks earned a bonus point and a 25-0 lead with four tries before halftime and added seven more after the break in a 70-7 romp but Umaga may need an operation after colliding with Spencer when he was tackled. All Blacks coaching co-ordinator Robbie Deans said: : "It is serious.Potentially it is a rupture." Howlett finished off a long-range counter-attacking raid with a 40-meter unopposed sprint in the 23rd minute and crossed for his second three minutes after halftime, for New Zealand's fifth touchdown and a 32-0 lead. Spencer had difficulty kicking -- although he raised the 7,000th point in World Cups with a penalty from close range in the second minute -- but the flyhalf had no trouble scoring his tries backing up out wide in the 38th and 61st minutes. Rokocoko was twice brought down with desperate cover-defending tackles in the first half and threw the last pass in two tries before scoring twice himself. He was replaced in the 70th minute because an ankle problem he picked up scoring his second. The Italians weren't walkovers, repelling a number of New Zealand's opportunities in the first 10 minutes and eventually crossing for a try 11 minutes after halftime. Twice held up over the New Zealand line in a period of sustained attack, the Italians finally scored when Matthew Phillips barged over for the Azzurri against his old compatriots in the 51st minute. It was reward for consistently declining to take shots at goal in a bid to score tries. Gert Peens converted as thousands of Italians in the 40,715 crowd jumped to their feet. Spencer opened the scoring in the second minute but missed three conversions in the first half and handed the kicking duties to center Daniel Carter, who scored a try and landed six conversions for a 17-point haul. His last conversion came in injury time after replacement winger Leon MacDonald crossed in the right corner in the 80th minute. Carter and lock Brad Thorn, who scored his first try for the All Blacks and New Zealand's first try of this World Cup when he barged over in the 12th minute, were the only changes to the lineup that rounded off an undefeated Tri-Nations campaign against Australia in August. Carter was in for Aaron Mauger (groin) and Thorn was replacing Ali Williams (foot), although both were expected to recover from their injuries during the tournament. There were some problems for the New Zealanders, losing their first lineout throw in the opening five minutes and lacking a little cohesion initially in the backline after a six-week break from international competition. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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