All Blacks v Tonga review
Campbell Burnes sifts through the wreckage of a recordequalling, historic night at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
We wrap the action from the All Blacks’ historic first Test at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium against the Ikale Tahi.
CONTEXT
The All Blacks’ first hitout of 2021, and the Ikale Tahi’s first since the 2019 Rugby World Cup, always loomed as a blowout.
At least 20 were unavailable for Tonga because they were either injured, still in MIQ (notably tighthead prop Ben Tameifuna) or advised not to play by their foreign clubs – an ongoing sad state of affairs. There was even an eligibility snafu, which meant a late scratching for prop Tau Koloamatangi, a former NZ Under 20 rep who had apparently appeared for Hong Kong. So Toutai Kefu fielded no less than 13 debutants in his match-day 23, several straight out of NZ club rugby. It showed.
This match was taken to the heart of Auckland’s Tongan community, near Onehunga. It was the All Blacks’ first Test at the home of the NRL Warriors club. Sadly, the ground was barely half full, despite the fine conditions and the Maori All Blacks-manu Samoa curtainraiser.
The All Blacks fielded four debutants: Quinn Tupaea, who excelled in the problematic No 12 jersey, and off the bench came Finlay Christie, Ethan Blackadder and George Bower.
The final scoreline of 102-0 matched that of the 2000 All Blacks-tonga encounter in Albany, when Doug Howlett and Troy Flavell, among others, ran amok.
HOW IT PLAYED OUT
This summary would sprawl over four pages were I to give a blow by blow account of how the All Blacks stretched and then broke the hapless Tongan defence to run in 16 tries.
Suffice to say, when the Ikale Tahi advanced on the All Blacks haka, it was the last time they went forward all night.
Unsurprisingly, they looked off the pace with their fitness and fell off tackles, while the All Blacks handled with aplomb, passed accurately and looked deadly in their strike moves and on the counter.
Strangely, the All Blacks did get pinged 13-4 on the penalty count. Equally strangely, the old warhorse Nasi Manu had to enter the fray to replace a centre after Tonga opted for the ol’ Highlanders’ 6-2 bench split.
KEY MOMENT
Where to start when looking for a key moment from a 16-try demolition?
It might have come when Will Jordan finished a dynamic 85m movement to make the score an alarming 24-0 after just eight minutes. The All Blacks’ record tally of 145, set at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, was well in view.
But Tonga started to slow things down in returning for kickoffs and actually stiffened up its defence, making the final margin much closer, if that is the word, than it could have been after a few minutes.
MVP: NO 14 WILL JORDAN
In just his third Test, and first start, the Crusaders and Mako man ran like the wind, caught everything aerially, and achieved the not inconsiderable feat of scoring as many tries (five) as he made tackles.
In doing so, he equalled Jeff Wilson’s quintet against Fiji in 1997, and trails just Marc Ellis’ six (in Tests) against Japan in 1995. Jordan did receive some quality assists from Damian Mckenzie, Richie Mo’unga and Luke Jacobson, but this was still ethereal finishing potency.
Jordan ran for 146m on 12 carries and beat seven defenders, so it might be hard to believe that fullback remains his preferred position.