New Zealand secured top spot in Rugby World Cup Pool C with a 47-9 victory over Tonga in what was a closely-fought contest for the most part at in Newcastle this evening.
Tonga more than matched the tournament favourites in the opening 10 minutes at St James' Park as both defences dominated, but New Zealand soon opened the scoring in the 13th minute.
© Getty Images
The All Blacks stole a Tongan lineout in their own half before surging down the right with some intricate passing which led to full-back Ben Smith going over for his second try of the tournament.
Dan Carter converted the try, but it failed to inspire New Zealand to kick on as the scrappy nature of the game continued. At the other end, Kurt Morath split the posts with a penalty in the 26th minute to get Tonga on the board.
New Zealand should have scored their second try moments later when Waisake Naholo knocked on in a good position, but they didn't have to wait long as prop Tony Woodcock surged over and Carter again kicked the extras.
© Getty Images
That was how it stayed until the interval, but Tonga were desperately close to reducing the deficit in the closing moments of the first half.
Kiwis captain Kieran Read was sin-binned for illegally bringing down a maul and the Tongan pack then dominated several phases of play but just fell short of the try line.
The Ikale Tahi started the second half on top once more with their numerical advantage and again they had New Zealand on the ropes, but could not get over the line and this time Horath opted for the kick to double the underdogs' score.
© Getty Images
New Zealand were feeling the pressure and Carter turned down a kick at goal to kick for the corner, and it paid off as Nehe Milner-Skudder went over for the All Blacks' third try.
Horath made it three from three with his boot to cut the deficit once more, but again New Zealand hit back straight away as Milner-Skudder collected a low kick to score his fourth try of the tournament.
That fourth try, which secured a bonus point for the All Blacks, seemed to kill off the spent Tongans and the rest of the contest was almost entirely played in the Ikale Tahi half.
© Getty Images
Fan-favourite Sonny Bill Williams was introduced midway through the second period and he went over directly under the post shortly after as an Aaron Smith reverse pass foxed the Tongan defence.
With 10 minutes to go, New Zealand went over for their sixth try through Sam Cane and then, in the 76th minute, Ma'a Nonu touched down for a try on his 100th Test appearance to cap a dominant end to the match.
New Zealand are guaranteed first place in Pool C with four wins out of four and they will play the loser of Sunday's Pool D showdown between France and Ireland in the quarter-finals.
It is a Kiwi-record 11th straight win in the tournament, while Tonga finish fourth in the group and miss out on automatic qualification for the 2019 edition in Japan.
Pascal Lemesre
