Scotland are out of the Rugby World Cup after a heavy defeat by hosts New Zealand in Whangarei.New Zealand: (57)Tries: Holmes 2, Leti-l’iga, Hirini, Mikaele-Tu’u, Fitzpatrick, Wickliffe 2, Roos; Cons: Holmes 6.Scotland: (0) 0
Renee Holmes, Ayesha Leti-l’iga, Sarah Hirini, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, Theresa Fitzpatrick, Renee Wickliffe, and Maia Roos all crossed for the Black Ferns in a clinical performance.
Scotland improved after the break but were unable to get on the scoreboard.
It leaves Bryan Easson’s side without a win after defeats by Wales and Australia.
New Zealand, roared on by a passionate home crowd, raced out of the blocks and scored their first try inside two minutes.
A spell of sustained pressure was eventually finished off in the corner by Holmes after some lovely hands from Fitzpatrick and Hazel Tubic.
Scotland looked stunned and the Black Ferns showed all their attacking flair – more slick handling and strong carries led to Leti-l’iga and Hirini both crossing before Mikaele-Tu’u crashed over to secure the bonus point.
There was no let-up and the fifth try was arguably their best. Fitzpatrick gathered an audacious offload from Alana Bremner and somehow grounded the ball under pressure from several Scottish defenders.
Scotland can count themselves unfortunate for the sixth try – Tubic’s pass to release Wickliffe looked well forward, but the referee allowed play to continue and the winger jinked past two would-be tacklers to score.
Wickliffe then strolled over for her second right on the stroke of half-time to finish a one-sided first 40.
Scotland looked a different outfit after the break though, building phases and posing New Zealand questions for the first time.
Shona Campbell was bright with ball in hand and twice Scotland came within metres of the home tryline only to see possession snatched away.
They were also able to shore things up defensively, showing all of the grit and fight that characterised their first two group games.
New Zealand did cross through Roos, but it took a superb offload from Natalie Delamere to unlock the Scottish defence.
Another brilliant move led to Sylvia Brunt running over the top of Liz Musgrove and feed Holmes to score New Zealand’s ninth try of the game and put the polish on an impressive win.
Scotland head coach Bryan Easson: “We got caught cold a little bit, but second half we kept the ball so much better. It shows what they’re all about.
“We’re ready to kick on again and we want to be back on this stage. The two losing bonus points could have been two wins – that’s how close we are.”
Line-ups
New Zealand: Holmes; Wickliffe, Du Plessis, Fitzpatrick, Leti-l’iga; Tubic, Marino-Tauhinu; Love, Ponsonby, Rule, Ngan-Woo, Roos, Bremner, Hirini, Mikaele-Tu’u.
Replacements: Delamere, Murray, Kalounivale, Bremner, Reynolds, Cocksedge, Brunt, Demant.
Scotland: Campbell; Lloyd, Orr, Thomson, Smith; Nelson, Mattinson; Wright, Skeldon, Belisle, Wassell, Bonar, Malcolm (capt), McLachlan, Konkel-Roberts.
Replacements: Rettie, Bartlett, Dougan, O’Donnell, McMillan, McDonald, Smith, Musgrove.
Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau
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