Tony Woodcock to miss the rest of the Rugby World Cup

Indeed, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen will have been greatly concerned by the way his side’s pack creaked before the break, with Tonga forcing a rash of penalties at the scrum, winning seven turnovers and scattering the All Blacks with their rolling maul.

Tries from Ben Smith and Tony Woodcock before a second-half double from Nehe Milner-Skudder handed the All Blacks their third successive bonus point at St James’ Park.

The team to play New Zealand this time has a Tongan record 360 caps which pales in comparison to the All Blacks with a combined 1,251 Tests worth of experience.

Although Morath trimmed the deficit slightly with another penalty, New Zealand quickly added to their tally as they forced the Tongans back, patiently working through the phases before Carter spread the ball wide for wing Milner-Skudder to dive over for another converted touchdown.

“We’ve got to go out there and play our best rugby, play with physical and mental intensity”, Japan coach Eddie Jones said after victory over Samoa.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard on the training pitch, but it may not have reflected in the quality of the performance that everyone expects from us”, Hansen said.

Stand-in captain Kieran Read is delighted with how the team bounced back.

He shared, “Hopefully tomorrow will be the day that the All Blacks are caught cold”. “New Zealanders should be very proud of him”.

Fly-half Carter, however, knows it is now time for the All Blacks to really click into gear.

Despite the nervous first half, New Zealand were now cruising at 35-9 and with Tonga tiring, they smelt blood and snatched another try through Sam Cane.

But they made no mistake minutes later when Tony Woodcock barrelled over from close range.

Were you quite surprised by how Tonga matched you in the first half and at the start of the second?

With their previously weak scrum now being lauded as a set piece weapon and despite being down to only 13 men at one stage, Australia fired a warning shot that Henry said the All Blacks will have stood up and taken note of.

Tonga’s failure to cross the whitewash ended a run of 17 games scoring a try in the competition – they last failed to cross the tryline in 1999, also against the All Blacks.

“It’s been great getting up here and we’re looking forward to moving into Newcastle city itself and having the opportunity to meet the people there as well”. I saw many instances of distraught Kiwis who had no idea how to manage the unexpected loss to the French.