All Blacks remain untested

New Zealand 91 Tonga 7

Sadly this was the only battle they won, as the All Blacks racked up the highest score of the World Cup so far with a 13-try annihilation.

Now coach John Mitchell insists they are ready to take on the world.

“I thought the teamwork was a lot better tonight and the guys came off the field very satisfied,” said Mitchell.

“We know we are heading into a tougher phase of rugby now and we are ready and looking forward to it. They played with a lot of effort and we had to make some tough tackles. We just executed very well.”

The one problem for the All Blacks is they are the only big team in this tournament who remain untested against genuine opposition; they will almost certainly face South Africa in the quarter-final and, despite the scoreline, there was still a rustiness to the New Zealand handling.

The scoring was dominated by outside centre Leon MacDonald who kicked 12 goals from 12 attempts in a display of flawless goal-kicking.

MacDonald also weighed in with a try for a personal tally of 29 points which may just get him the nod for the match against Wales in the continued absence of the injured Tana Umaga. New Zealand’s other injured centre Aaron Mauger, however, is likely to be fit to return.

By half-time they had steamed into a 35-0 lead with further touchdowns from Corey Flynn, Caleb Ralph and Spencer, who also kicked a conversion when MacDonald was injured.

While Tonga had the consolation of an opportunist second-half try from Pierre Hola, when he intercepted Justin Marshall’s pass, the All Blacks just rolled on, scoring 40 seconds after the restart through Ralph.

Prop Kees Meeuws also scored along with touchdowns from Mils Muliaina and Doug Howlett, plus a penalty try when Tonga’s pack lost its discipline.

NEW ZEALAND: Muliaina, Howlett, MacDonald, Carter, Ralph, Spencer, Marshall, Meeuws, Flynn, Somerville, Thorn, Williams, Thorne, Braid, So’oialo. Replacements: Hewett for Somerville (61), McCaw for Thorne (61).

TONGA: Va’enuku, Fonua, Hufanga, Payne, Tui’fua, Hola, Martens, Pulu, Ma’asi, Lavaka, Latu, Vaki, S. Afeaki, Fenukitau, Kivalu. Replacements: Leger for Hufanga (40), Tuipulotu for Tui’fua (40), Lea’aetoa for Pulu (26), Taukafa for Ma’asi (58), M. Ngauamo for Latu (48).