ANALYSIS: They might not have scored the hundred points many expected but the All Blacks should be happy with their win over Namibia in their second Rugby World Cup game in London.
Waiting for a TMO decision RWC2015 Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The All Blacks ran in nine tries as they beat the African side 58-14.
There were some very good parts to the All Black performance, especially from a largely second string line-up.
The Namibians were solid on defence and performed well at the set piece and thoroughly deserved their only try early in the second half.
However, from then the game deteriorated into what is perhaps the worst part of rugby - too much standing around and not a lot of action.
Constant stoppages for errors, scrum resets and TMO referrals frustrated coach Steve Hansen.
"I think in the last 20 minutes of the game, there were 40 incidents of the game being played, so very hard to play rugby when you get a stop-start game like that and so you become a little frustrated," Hansen said.
"But we got through that and will have to deal with it and it will be a learning curve for us going forward."
At one stage the game was stopped for four minutes as they waited for a legal scrum and captain Sam Cane admits even he struggled to understand the hold-ups.
"To be honest I wasn't a hundred percent sure what to do out there myself, when the game was so stop-start, you speak to the ref and ask if he can hurry things up, but some of those dark arts of scrummaging I don't know a lot about myself so, a little bit frustrating as we just wanted to play some footy."
The All Blacks would be happy to get through a solid 80-minute hit-out without any major injuries and 29 of the 31-man squad have now had some game time.
Namibia captain Jacques Burger said he was happy with their performance and that it was all about small victories.
They managed to score a try and he felt their effort has set them up for their goal of the tournament, to win a game.
Burger was proud of his side and the occasion.
Johan Deysel celebrates his team's opening try during the 2015 Rugby World Cup match between New Zealand and Namibia Photo: Getty Images
"As soon as you don't enjoy days like this and as soon as you don't find any pride in playing the best team in the world in the All Blacks then you can stop playing this game," he said.
"Half of these boys are eight till fivers, and to play against the All Blacks on the world stage and face the haka is a special moment for us, I'm glad the uncertainty is over and the boys realise it is just another 15 you are playing against."
It was also a special day for Cane, captaining the All Blacks for the first time and standing at the front of the new formation for the haka.
Sam Cane leads the All Black haka against Namibia RWC2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"Probably a few months ago I wouldn't have been comfortable doing that, but we went to a marae in Wellington who own that haka and learnt a little more about it and how to perform it properly and with the respect it deserves so since then we talked about it and I thought why not and just went out there and gave it my all."
So a decent hit-out by the All Blacks' second-stringers, who along with the rest of the squad have a bit of a break now, with their next game against Georgia in Cardiff not until next Saturday.
