Off day: Dan Carter scored a try but failed to perform with the boot
EDINBURGH, 23 September – New Zealand have booked themselves a quarter-final in Cardiff after defeating Scotland 40-0 in Edinburgh on Sunday.
The All Blacks dominated the forward exchanges but their handling let them down on a number of occasions.
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said Frank Hadden's second-choice Scotland side forced them into making errors.
"The scoreline doesn't indicate the physical nature of the Test," McCaw said.
"I've said in the past I've never had an easy game here (Murrayfield) and that was the same out there today. The breakdown was pretty physical and they flew into it and forced us into some mistakes."
Leading from the front
McCaw opened the scoring in the first five minutes, crossing from a simple scrum move. Byron Kelleher and Doug Howlett followed soon after, Howlett's touchdown making him New Zealand's greatest try scorer.
New Zealand led 20-0 at half time after failing to finish off a number of opportunities. The second half continued in the same fashion, with the normally accurate Dan Carter having an off day with the boot.
Scotland showed promise at times, with a strong defence and impressive tackling.
Hadden said his side had put on a "gutsy performance".
"We'd like to get a better start. In the first 10, 15 minutes we recovered and I am proud of the effort of all the players that were on the pitch today."
New Zealand coach Graham Henry said Scotland had been strong.
"They defended very well, very physically and I don't think we have had that so far in the tournament and that's a good learning experience for us at this stage."
"We were pretty happy. We've scrummed the best we have all tournament. The line-out was OK, we scored a few tries and blew a few as well."
Baptism of fire
Scotland prop Craig Smith said his team-mates did not "crumble".
"They were looking for us to fold and that never happened.
"They (New Zealand) have got strength at the breakdown. It wasn't so much that they gave us a lesson but they gave us a few pointers as to where we need to get to."
Debutant John Barclay said his first international match was a baptism of fire.
"I'm pretty disappointed, personally, to see that result. I don't like being beaten by 40 points no matter what the occasion."
Scotland's Chris Paterson, playing at fly half, was sidelined with a poke to the eye and New Zealand lost full back Leon MacDonald to a leg injury in the first half.
New Zealand face Romania next, while Scotland play Italy in a match that will determine the second quarter-finalist from Pool C.
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Las tres mayores naciones del Hemisferio Sur, Australia y Nueva Zelanda (junto con Sudáfrica que se había llevado el pase ayer), se aseguraron el pase a cuartos de final en la Copa Mundial de Rugby 2007.

=== Australia – Fiji ===

Los Wallabies marcaron siete tries mientras se aseguraban el puesto uno en el Grupo B con una victoria de 55–12 sobre el seleccionado de Fiyi. Con tries de Adam Ashley-Cooper y Stephen Hoiles, dos de Matt Giteau y una tripleta de D Mitchell, Australia ganó un rotundo partido. Fiyi solamente marcó con Isoa Neivua y Aca Ratuva pero nunca representaron una amenaza para Australia.



=== Nueva Zelanda – Escocia ===

Por su parte, los All Blacks de Nueva Zelanda no concedieron un punto al seleccionado de Escocia luego de una victoria total de 40–0 para llegar a la primera posición del Grupo C. Escocia peleó duro contra la dominante Nueva Zelanda, que marcó seis tries. Richie McCaw, Doug Howlett (2), Byron Kelleher, Ali Williams y Daniel Carter fueron quienes marcaron para los All Blacks.