New Zealand's dominance of Pool D at the 2003 Rugby World Cup continued when they smashed a game, but hopelessly outclassed, Tonga by 91-7 in a rain-soaked Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The Kiwis scored 13 tries -- including one penalty try -- to the one of Tonga.
The Kiwis were in total control of proceedings from the outset, not just dominating possession, but also running the Tongan defence ragged. In fact, throughout the match the Kiwis enjoyed more than 70 percent of the possession stakes.
As a result, the Tongans had very few opportunities to play with the ball and most of those were deep inside their own territory. Their only points came when fly-half Pierre Hola intercepted a Justin Marshall pass in the second half.
Other than that they spent most of the game defending, but even then they simply could not plug all the gaps as the Kiwi runners kept finding space out wide.
All Black captain Reuben Thorne said the margin of the victory was not important, but rather the manner in which the team performed. "We went out there to focus on what we needed to do and most of those things worked for us," he said.
The Kiwi skipper added that they would now start to focus on their most difficult pool game -- against Wales at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney on November 2.
The All Blacks suffered a late setback when lock Chris Jack was forced to withdraw from the game after picking up an ankle injury at training on Thursday. His place on the replacements bench was taken by Jerry Collins, who was not even required for duty as Ali Williams, in his first game back from a foot injury, showed no signs of discomfort.
After a tentative start to the game, the All Blacks scored their first try in the seventh minute. From a line-out five metres out they simply drove it over and young openside Daniel Braid touched down. Leon MacDonald added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
But it was the next try that really showed how the All Blacks can punish a team whose basics are not up to par. From a sloppy Tongan line-out the Kiwis spun it wide quickly, where Howlett kicked the ball in-field. Second five-eighth Daniel Carter was there to collect the kick and as he raced towards the tryline he fended off two half-hearted tackles. This time Spencer -- for some reason or another -- slotted the conversion.
The Kiwis' scoring continued to keep up with the clock as a 21st minute try by hooker Corey Flynn, after some good interplay between forwards and backs, and a 27th minute try by winger Caleb Ralph -- again after some good work by the forwards -- saw the score progress to 28-0. MacDonald added both conversions.
The final score of the first half came in the 34th minute, when the ball was kicked ahead and a Tongan defender failed to control the ball as he was tackled into his own in-goal area. Spencer pounced on the ball and MacDonald converted for a 35-0 lead at the break.
It took the All Blacks less than a minute to open their account in the second half, when Tongan fly-half Pierre Hola failed to find touch and the All Blacks countered, with Ralph running through almost untouched.
MacDonald's conversion made it 42-0.
The rout continued throughout the second half, with prop Kees Meeuws the next to add his name to the scoresheet in the 46th minute. That was followed by a penalty try to the All Blacks in the 50th minute -- before Tonga's only score came in the 53rd minute, when Hola intercepted and replacement Sateki Tu'ipulotu added the conversion.
This try sparked the Tongans back into life and it appeared briefly that they would make the Kiwis work harder for their tries.
However, five tries in the final 25 minutes -- with Leon MacDonald, Mils Muliaina (twice) and Doug Howlett (twice) going over -- saw the All Blacks continue the rout without too much resistance.
Man of the match: It was so one-sided that it would be difficult to single out individuals, but All Black second five-eighth Daniel Carter was a creative genius in midfield and set up a number of opportunities for those around him. Carter, who scored one of his team's 13 tries, gets our award.
Moment of the Match: In 13 tries you can find many moments of brilliance, but our vote goes to the All Blacks' second try in the 16th minute. Daniel Carter scored after the Kiwis showed how severely they can punish a team that is just slightly off-colour. They stole a Tongan line-out and with quick hands it went wide, where winger Doug Howlett kicked the ball infield. Carter collected and brushed aside two defenders to score.
Villain of the Match: Argentinian referee Pablo Deluca seemed intent on leaving his mark on the game, but unfortunately he did it for all the wrong reasons and got a number of decisions badly wrong -- which was blatantly obvious even in a game as one-sided as this. It makes one wonder how some of these match officials made it to the RWC, when there are far better referees around the world who are not present.
The Teams:
New Zealand: 1 Greg Somerville, 2 Corey Flynn, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Brad Thorn, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Daniel Braid, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Rodney So'oialo, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daniel Carter, 13 Leon MacDonald, 14 Caleb Ralph, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves: Ben Atiga, David Hewett, Marty Holah, Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu
Unused: Keven Mealamu, Jerry Collins
Tonga: 1 Heamani Lavaka, 2 Viliami Ma'asi, 3 Kisi Pulu, 4 Usaia Latu, 5 Viliami Vaki, 6 Stanley Afeaki, 7 'Ipolito Fenukitau, 8 Ben Hur Kivalu (c), 9 Sililo Martens, 10 Pierre Hola, 11 Sione Fonua, 12 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 13 John Payne, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 15 Sila Va'enuku
Reserves: Tonga Lea'aetoa, Milton Ngauamo, Edward Langi, Gus Leger, Ephraim Taukafa, Sateki Tuipulotu
Unused: David Palu
Attendance: 47488
Referee: Deluca p.
Points Scorers:
New Zealand
Tries: Muliaina M. 2, Howlett D.C. 2, MacDonald L.R. 1, Carter D.W. 1, Ralph C.S. 2, Spencer C.J. 1, Meeuws K.J. 1, Flynn C.R. 1, Braid D.J. 1, Penalty try 1
Conv: MacDonald L.R. 12, Spencer C.J. 1
Tonga
Tries: Hola P. 1
Conv: Tuipulotu S. 1
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