Sivivatu, Nonu Star In All-Blacks Trial

With the British and Irish Lions’ first Test against New Zealand just over three weeks away, the All-Blacks continued their build-up today with a high-scoring trial match in Napier.

All-Blacks Trial Match: Friday, June 3
Probables 32 Possibles 37, McLean Park, Napier
Scorers: Probables: Tries: Sitiveni Sivivatu 2, Doug Howlett, Rodney So’oialo; Cons: Nick Evans 3; Pens: Evans 2
Possibles: Tries: Ma’a Nonu 2, Ben Atiga, Scott Hamilton, Brent Ward; Cons: David Hill 3; Pens: Hill, Jimmy Gopperth

Despite Fijian-born Sitiveni Sivivatu scoring two excellent first half tries, the Possibles, helped by a brace of tries of his own from Ma’a Nonu, ran out five-point winners.

Centre Nonu set up another try too, in a dominant display in midfield. He formed an excellent centre partnership with Hurricanes team mate Conrad Smith, with the tandem looking particularly dangerous on the break.

Two early turnovers from All-Black scrum-half Byron Kelleher allowed set up Sivivatu for well-finished tries on 13 and 21 minutes.

Nonu helped the Possibles stay in the hunt at 17-5 down at the break, as he shipped tackles from Nick Evans and Seilala Mapusua to send full-back Ben Atiga, who lined out for New Zealand in last year’s 47-19 IRB Under-21 World Cup win over Ireland, in at the left corner.

Nonu and Atiga combined again to put Possibles right wing Scott Hamilton over for a 44th-minute try, and further efforts from Nonu (58 minutes, 63) and left winger Brent Ward (69) set up the Colin Cooper-coached side’s win.

All-Blacks coach Graham Henry names his 22-man squad for their forthcoming one-off Test against Fiji tomorrow, with a good half of the likely names missing from today’s Trial.

Henry’s assistant coach Wayne Smith said: “The trial match wasn’t about winning or losing – it was about performance under pressure.

“It’s a challenging game for a coach really. I thought some of the play was pretty good, we wanted some depth and I think we saw that.”

The busy Kelleher, who earned the first of his 32 international caps in 1999, sustained a calf injury in the Trial, although Smith confirmed later that the 28 year-old was taken off as a precaution and the strain is not thought to be a serious one.