The Kiwi rugby sides do not lack for patsies in their ongoing quest for rugby world domination.
Not long after the Baby Blacks thoroughly disgraced the Japanese in U20 play, the All Blacks Sevens of Craig Laidlaw found a victim in the form of the United States in recent World Rugby Sevens Series play in the Paris Sevens semifinal.
The score was a rather lopsided 33 – 7 in favour of New Zealand, who will now meet South Africa for the next round.
Two of the NZ Sevens scored a brace each.
Emerging star Salesi Rayasi and experienced hand Regan Ware both registered doubles. Those four tries came not long after Scott Curry, who waited all of a minute and some seconds, put up the first score.
The U.S. looked good in the opening stages, if looking good can be considered stringing together 41 passes to none for NZ at one stage, but passes do not a sieve plug, and Curry scored from a turnover.
New Zealand then surrendered a long-distance try to Carlin “No Man is an Island” Isles, but the U.S. offense thereafter got a severe case of rigor mortis.
New Zealand held a comfortable 21 – 7 margin before Ware left the bench and tallied his first try. He and Rayasi both added their second following the break.
Unlike Isoruku Yamamoto, Laidlaw made no post-game reference to awakening a sleeping giant, but New Zealand may want to fret lest Trump, a couple days hence, when he has singlehandedly taken all the nukes away from North Korea, turns his attention to rugby and decides to pilot a new rugby-themed reality show in order to restore unity to the fractured States.
Lots of sports action going on in France, however, the French 15 had to travel to Eden Park, where the All Blacks showed more mercy than the Baby Blacks, allowing France to remain within 41 points, all of which the All Blacks scored after trailing 11 – 8 at the half.