NEW ZEALAND 47 TONGA 9

THE scoreline was emphatic, but once again, the performance was mixed. New Zealand cruise on to the World Cup quarter-finals, but the nagging doubts about their wellbeing remain.

On the positive side, the All Blacks ran in seven tries to thrill a raucous St James’ Park crowd and cut loose in the second half to provide a thrilling reminder of their attacking capabilities. Tonga had no answer to the invention of Aaron Smith at scrum-half, Ma’a Nonu celebrated his 100th cap with an emotional late score and Dan Carter’s metronomic kicking meant that all bar one of New Zealand’s tries were successfully converted.

And yet there was enough in Tonga’s play, particularly in the first half, to raise genuine questions about the All Blacks’ defence of their World Cup trophy. Their scrum was demolished on a couple of occasions, and for an hour, Tonga were able to compete as equals at the breakdown.

If there is a weakness in this All Blacks side it might well be up front, and with either France or Ireland coming up next, Steve Hansen will be concerned at his pack’s struggles against a Tongan side hardly renowned for its scrummaging. Further down the track, both Australia and South Africa will fancy their chances of staging a repeat.

It might seem critical to quibble about a 38-point triumph, but the All Blacks are judged differently to all other sides and the memory of 2007’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in Cardiff continues to loom large.

Eight years ago, the consensus was that the All Blacks were under-cooked after coming through a group that barely extended them, so while last night’s game might not have meant much in the wider World Cup picture, it was important in terms of setting the tone for New Zealand’s progress to the knock-out phase. On that score, and despite the final scoreline, it was only a partial success at best.

Tonga’s refusal to be overawed by their illustrious opponents was apparent from the way in which they matched the All Blacks’ pre-match Haka with their own tribal war dance, the Sipi-Tau. With neither side wanting to start first, a staring battle ensued before the Tongan players sprung into life. As sporting theatre goes, it was hard to beat.

Equally as impressive was the way in which Tonga’s passion remained intact after the pre-match showdown. The early tackling exchanges were ferocious and, if anything, it was All Blacks who were knocked off their stride.

Normal service was eventually resumed, but it took until the quarter hour mark for the All Blacks to record their first score. It was worth the wait when it arrived though, with Conrad Smith rounding off a fluent passing move with a missed pass inside to enable full-back Ben Smith to cross in the corner.

Still, though, Tonga continued to give as good as they got, tackling everything that moved, competing on equal terms at the breakdown and reducing the arrears to 7-3 when Kurt Morath landed a penalty midway through the first half.

It was tempting to compare the South Sea Islanders to Newcastle United. Brilliant against the big boys, but somehow capable of going 26-0 behind to Japan last weekend.

The All Blacks continued to portray early signs of sloppiness, with Waisake Naholo inexplicably knocking on to butcher a three-man overlap on the counter-attack.

Naholo made amends shortly after, producing a stunning line break to kick off a move that eventually finished with Aaron Smith popping a pass to enable prop Tony Woodcock to crash over from close range.

Yet while the All Blacks’ backs were gradually finding their range, it was a completely different story up front. A fantastic Tongan driving maul came within inches of crossing the line shortly before the interval, and its illegal halting resulted in New Zealand skipper Kieran Read being sent to the sin bin. When a desperate All Blacks defence erred twice again shortly after, they were fortunate not to concede a penalty try.

The world champions came under more pressure at the start of the second half, and Tonga’s territorial dominance was finally rewarded when Morath slotted his second penalty to make it 14-6.

That score stirred the All Blacks into life though, and some strong forward play took the ball to the Tongan line and enabled Carter to set up Nehe Milner-Skudder for a fine finish in the corner.

Milner-Skudder was at it again moments later, securing the bonus-point try as he swooped onto replacement Beauden Barrett’s grubber kick to round off an instinctive move.

With Tonga tiring, the All Blacks found themselves slicing through at will in the final quarter, and when Aaron Smith delivered a wonderful disguised pass inside, replacement Sonny Bill Williams glided through to score unopposed.

Sam Cane crashed through to claim the sixth try with ten minutes left, and fittingly the final word went to Nonu as he rounded off another flowing passing move to celebrate a centenary of caps in style.

New Zealand: B Smith, Milner-Skudder, C Smith (Williams 62), Nonu, Naholo (Barrett 58), Carter, A Smith (Kerr-Barlow 72); Woodcock (Crockett 41), Coles (Mealamu 67), O Franks (B Franks 62), Romano (Retallick 49), Whitelock (Messam 67), Kaino, Cane, Read.

Tonga: Lilo, Veainu (Helu 67), Piutau, Fosita, Vainikolo, Morath (Tahitu’a 62), Takulua (Fisilau 70); Tonga’uiha (Taumalolo 55), Taione, Aulika (Puafisi 80), Lokotui, Tuineau (Mafi 54), Kalamafoni, Latu, Ma’afu (Ram 67).