Leon MacDonald ran in two tries and kicked 12 goals from 12 attempts for a personal tally of 34 points as the All Blacks turned on the power to record the highest score of the tournament so far in a one-sided Pool D encounter at the Suncorp Stadium.
The All Blacks were awesome and ran in five tries in a one-sided first half. In the 21st minute wing Caleb Ralph crashed through out wide before feeding Corey Flynn with a perfectly timed pass and with knees pumping the hooker steamed over in the corner.
MacDonald landed another impressive conversion from out wide and Tonga replaced loose-head prop Kisi Pulu with Tonga Lea'aetoa in an attempt to gain some control in the scrum.
In truth, however, it was already one-way traffic with New Zealand wrapping up a bonus point with their fourth try, this time from Ralph who received a pass in space after another rolling maul had punched the hole for the All Blacks.
MacDonald again added the two points from wide and the red shirts of Tonga were already looking in disarray.
It seemed every time the All Blacks attacked they might score and when Spencer was first to win the race for a kick-through they added their fifth converted touchdown – again slotted home from out wide by the increasingly impressive MacDonald to give New Zealand a 35-0 lead.
Poor Tonga had only just got back their wind after the half-time break when New Zealand carried on where they had left off.
Scrum-half Justin Marshall spread the ball wide to Ralph and the left-wing set off on one of those trademark mazy runs, slicing his way through the Tongan defence to touch down within 40 seconds of the restart.
MacDonald added the conversion as he did five minutes later when prop Kees Meeuws burrowed his way over the line from another impressive maul.
By now the Tongans were all but exhausted from their constant efforts in defence and it was hardly surprising when their lack of discipline and continuous infringement allowed the All Blacks to record a penalty try.
The All Blacks were scoring at more than a point a minute but Tonga were not completely down – fly-half Pierre Hola intercepting a Marshall pass to race between the posts.
Sateki Tu'ipulotu added the conversion but the Blacks were straight back with the best try so far, full-back Mils Muliaina scything past eight defenders to slalom his way under the posts to give New Zealand a 63-7 lead midway through the second-half.
The Tongans were almost out on their feet with fatigue and it resulted in the first yellow card of the match, Argentine referee Pablo Deluca sending Sila Va'enuku to the sin bin for giving away persistent penalties.
Down to 14 men it was even more one-way traffic and centres Carter and MacDonald combined superbly for the latter to score his second try of the match under the posts.
Muliaina ran in his second try and Howlett had time to cash in with two touchdowns of his own as Tonga collapsed in the last few minutes.
New Zealand now face Wales next weekend but the manner of this triumph was a reminder to the rest of the World Cup that the All Blacks are the team to beat.
