New Zealand made light work of Tonga in their opening Test of 2021, winning 102-0 in an entertaining encounter at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was an easy outing for the men in black with Will Jordan leading the way with five tries and Brad Weber was next best with a hat-trick.
The All Blacks’ other points came through five-pointers from Dalton Papalii (2), Damian McKenzie, Luke Jacobson, Richie Mo’unga, Rieko Ioane, Patrick Tuipulotu and George Bridge while Mo’unga (7) and Beauden Barrett (4) added conversions.
The result is a momentous one for the All Blacks as it equals their biggest ever victory against Tonga, who they beat by the same scoreline in 2000.
As expected, the All Blacks were fastest out of the blocks and they opened the scoring as early as the second minute when McKenzie rounded off in the left-hand corner after a flowing backline move in the build-up.
Two minutes later, Jacobson freed his arms to offload to back-row partner Papalii, who shrugged off a defender before cantering in under the posts.
The carnage continued with the home side running the ball from all areas of the field and well-taken tries from Weber and Jordan followed which meant New Zealand held a comfortable 24-0 lead by the 10th minute.
Weber, who was making his first start in his eighth Test, continued to benefit from the All Blacks’ expansive style of play when he crossed for his second try five minutes later, after running onto a pass from Angus Ta’avao just outside Tonga’s 22.
The one-way traffic continued and midway through the half McKenzie and Mo’unga combined before the latter put Jordan in the clear and the right wing strolled in for an easy five-pointer.
Tonga did well to stem the onslaught over the next 15 minutes and although the Pacific Islanders managed to spend some time in the All Blacks’ half during that period, there was no reward for their attacking efforts.
It was only a matter of time before New Zealand regained the initiative, however, and in the 37th minute Bridge found Papalii with a well-time pass down the left-hand touchline and the openside flanker went over for his second five-pointer to give his side a comfortable 43-0 lead at half-time.
The All Blacks started the second half like the first with an early try, when Jacobson scored from close quarters just two minutes after the restart, before Jordan and Weber got their respective hat-tricks in quick succession.
That meant the hosts were cruising with the score 60-0 by the 50th minute but they were far from done and upped the ante on attack during the rest of the match.
Mo’unga also got in on the try-scoring action in the 54th minute before Jordan scored his fourth try two minutes later, after a good line break from replacement scrum-half Finlay Christie.
There was no sign of the All Blacks taking their foot off the pedal during the final quarter and they were rewarded with further tries from Ioane, Tuipulotu and Jordan before Bridge brought up their century with the final try in the game’s closing stages.
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