Rugby: Typical rusty first-up effort by ABs

All Black replacement halfback Piri Weepu shouts at his forwards during last night's test betwen the All Blacks and Fiji at Carisbrook. Photo by Craig Baxter.

A win but rusty and scratchy as they come. The All Blacks beat Fiji 60-14 at Carisbrook last night but, as a warm-up for some tougher tasks to come, the performance asked more questions than it answered.

The home side looked like a Ferrari being powered by a four-stroke mower - plenty of endeavour and effort but ultimately not much of a performance.

The team showed glimpses of its undoubted talent but there were more fumbles and turnovers conceded than the three wise men would have been happy about.

In some worrying ways, it was a typical first-up encounter from the All Blacks. There were some encouraging signs and some good individual skills, but there were the obvious indicators this was the first hit-out of the season.

Fiji first five-eighth Seremaia Bai is unable to do anything to stop his opposite number, Colin Slade, scoring a try. Photo by Gregor Richardson.

The crooked throws, the passes not quite going where they should, a lack of getting players into space, and the inability to find a man to finish. It was a very frustrating watch at times.

The Fijians were experts at slowing the ball down and used their bulk to prevent the All Blacks getting much continuity into the game. But the home team was guilty of being too flat in attack, with some inaccurate passing and running across field.

The Fijians actually grew in confidence as the game went on and scored two good tries in the second half as the All Blacks got caught out..

In fact, the All Blacks were tortoise-like at the start of the second half and did not score a point until 22 minutes had gone in that period.

The Fijians were matching them for points in the second half until four minutes from the end when the power of the All Black scrum led to a penalty try.

By then the Fijians had thrown in the towel, well content with their effort in the match.

Fullback Mils Muliaina nabbed a try right near the end.

Best for the home team was hooker Andrew Hore, who showed plenty of strength at the breakdown. Adam Thomson got around the paddock and did plenty of work.

Colin Slade was polished in periods and Ma'a Nonu ran hard but ignored his outsides at times. Winger Sitivani Sivivatu looked busy throughout.

The Fijians gave as good as they got - lock Seko Kalou had a good return to Carisbrook and halfback Nemia Serelevu was tidy.

Thomson scored his first test try at Carisbrook two minutes before the halftime break.

The home team had barged the ball up through its forwards and, after skipper McCaw attempted to get over, Thomson took the ball and managed to find a way to the line.

He was not the first Highlander of the night to get over the line as Slade had scored the second try of the match after Sivivatu had opened the try-scoring for the home teamt.

Slade's effort came after the All Blacks had turned the ball over deep in their own teritory. Following a quick ruck, Slade put in a clever chip kick and won the 20m race to the ball to dot down under the posts.

Despite the All Blacks being ahead 32-0 at the break, the Fijians had put up a solid defensive line and were hard to penetrate.

Too many All Black forwards were camped in the backline and the home team lacked depth in its attack.

The stop-start nature of the first half, thanks to a scrum set which was messier than a teenager's bedroom, led to much frustration in the All Black camp.

- The scores
ALL BLACKS v FIJI

• All Blacks 60
Sitiveni Sivivatu, Andrew Hore, Colin Slade, Adam Thomson, Conrad Smith, Piri Weepu, Mils Muliaina tries, penalty try, Slade 4 con, 2 pen, Dan Carter 3 con