Billy Proctor has pushed his case for a late All Blacks call up after an impressive four-try performance for the All Blacks XV in their win over the Brave Blossoms in Japan.
Coming off an impressive season with the Hurricanes, Proctor was on-song for the New Zealand development side throughout the 41-27 win as they once again had to battle a passionate outfit and sweltering humidity in Tokyo.
But despite the heat, the Hurricanes midfielder was ice cold with his positional play and finishing, opening the scoring for the All Blacks XV before adding two more tries before halftime to have a hat-trick in the first half alone.
His first was the finish to a superb break from Hurricanes teammate Ruben Love while his second was sheer power from in close, dropping his shoulder and punching through the Japanese defence to cross the line.
His third was also another finish thanks to a teammate's great run with Jona Nareki setting him up.
Proctor's hat-trick, along with a try from Stephen Perofeta who also put a case forward at the hotly-contested first-five position, saw the All Blacks XV take a well-earned 29-13 lead into the break.
It didn't take them long to extend it after play resumed with AJ Lam adding to the scorecard in the 43rd minute before Proctor again found the line off a slick short ball from Perofeta.
That made the scoreline 41-13 and despite Japan striking back with two tries late as the All Blacks XV started to fade in the 30-degree heat, it was a comfortable enough win for the side that leaves Jamie Joseph with plenty of questions to find answers to ahead of his final Rugby World with the Brave Blossoms.
"We obviously made a lot of mistakes and lost the game," Joseph said bluntly.
"But I thought we performed really well in places and we're playing a really quality side from New Zealand who, if you make a mistake against these guys, they punish you.
"But it's a good experience for us - it's only our second game in the last six months and from this point, we're only going to get better."
All Blacks XV co-captain Billy Harmon was full of praise for Japan both for their play and hosting but gave credit to his boys for stepping up in their final game which was also the last chance to push their case to Ian Foster for a World Cup spot.
"This means everything to us," Harmon said.
"It's a chance for the boys to put their hands up for higher honours and the boys played incredible so I think we can be proud of the effort."
All Blacks XV 41 [Billy Proctor 4, Stephen Perofeta, AJ Lam tries; Stephen Perofeta 4 con, 1 pen]
Japan 27 [Kotaro Matsushima 2, Semisi Masirewa tries; Seungsin Lee 3 con, 2 pen]
HT: 29-13
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