Rampant All Blacks rout Romanians

TOULOUSE, France -- New Zealand completed their preparations for next weekend's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with an 85-8 romp over Romania in their final Pool C match in Toulouse.

The All Blacks ran in 13 tries for a fourth successive victory as Graham Henry's side became the first to score more than 300 points in the group stage of the tournament.

Joe Rokocoko went over for a hat-trick of tries, while fellow winger Sitiveni Sivivatu and center Isaia Toeava also crossed twice each.

The Romanians, who earlier beat Portugal 14-10 and lost 42-0 to Scotland and 24-18 to Italy, delighted the crowd when hooker Marius Tincu bulldozed over for a try in the 30th minute to cut the deficit to 31-5.

He went over following a lineout after his side opted not to kick for goal, taking advantage of one of the Kiwis' few apparent weaknesses.

Sivivatu went over for the first try after just 34 seconds -- the fastest in the tournament so far -- and scored again in the 29th minute to seal the bonus point after Rokocoko and Nick Evans also crossed.

Tincu's try proved brief respite for Romania as center Aaron Mauger finished off a fine counter-attack when the east Europeans failed to find touch, making it 36-5 at the break.

Toeava burst onto a skip pass by scrum-half Andrew Ellis to notch his first try in the 47th minute, then Evans was given the chance to run the show from fly-half as Luke McAlister was given a rest.

Evans had started at full-back, while McAlister was called into the starting line-up due to a calf strain suffered in training by first-choice No. 10 Dan Carter.

McAlister, like Carter in earlier games, had struggled with his goal kicking, but Evans gave an assured performance with the boot as he converted further tries by Rokocoko and replacement hooker Andrew Hore.

Stand-in skipper Jerry Collins set up Rokocoko's hat-trick with a fine reverse pass in the 65th minute before Florin Vlaicu kicked a consolation penalty for Romania.

Conrad Smith went over soon after, then fellow replacement Doug Howlett extended his New Zealand try-scoring record to 49 in the 78th minute before Toeava capped a useful training run for the tournament favorites.

The All Blacks will next travel to Cardiff in Wales to meet the runners-up from Pool D in the quarterfinals on October 6.

Tri-Nations rivals Australia scored six tries in wet conditions in Bordeaux to record a 37-6 victory over Canada in their final Group B match, topping the group with an unbeaten record.

The two-time champions made relatively hard work of defeating limited opponents ahead of their much-awaited clash with reigning champions England in the quarterfinals next weekend. E-mail to a friend