New Zealand recorded a morale-boosting triumph over Papua New Guinea in their World Cup encounter in front of 11,278 fans at Skilled Park on Saturday.
After being smashed 30-6 by Australia in their opening game of the tournament, the Kiwis rebounded in fine fashion, running in four tries in the first half en route to a comprehensive nine-tries-to-one win.
The crushing victory may have come at some cost though, with Kiwis star Benji Marshall forced to watch the second half from the sidelines with a tight hamstring.
Marshall's omission, after he had had helped set up a 22-0 lead at half-time for New Zealand, initially triggered a change in momentum as PNG attempted to get on the scoreboard while the Kiwis lacked a creative spark.
Gold Coast Titans youngster David Moore was the man to do it for the Kumuls when he stepped his way over for a converted try in the 48th minute to pull the score back to 22-6.
Any thoughts PNG may have been harbouring of a miraculous comeback were soon put to bed, however, when the recalled Issac Luke made the most of some lackadaisical defending and scurried 35 metres to the line in a striking solo effort.
Minutes later the floodgates were open and the scoreline was blown out to an embarrassing 30-6 when substitute David Fa'alogo crashed over.
The match proceeded to fizzle, although the Kiwis continued to look dangerous and, after Manu Vatuvei had a try disallowed due to an earlier forward pass, Adam Blair joined the party in the 68th minute.
Kiwis winger Sam Perrett then crossed for his second of the match, with a fumble from the Kumuls after a chip kick gifting Perrett possession right on the try line.
New Zealand were not quite finished though, as Broncos lock Greg Eastwood added another for good measure in the 76th minute.
The Kumuls may have won plenty of fans when they gamely tested England 32-22 in the competition opener, but it was a different story on the Gold Coast where they were rarely able to threaten the try line.
The result means PNG's World Cup campaign is as good as over.
The Kumuls now need to cause the upsets of all upsets by defeating tournament favourites Australia and also hope for other results to go their way if they are to progress to the semi-final stage.
New Zealand boasted the majority of the possession and set the crushing win up in a free-flowing first half, where Simon Mannering crossed twice, Perrett once, while Jerome Ropati ran in the opener in the ninth minute as New Zealand easily controlled the tempo.
After a physical start to the match, it was not long before the deadlock was broken when a string of passes ended in Marshall setting up Ropati for the opening try.
Mannering then crossed effortlessly for a double and Krisnan Inu, after earlier missing his first shot of the night, had no trouble converting both of Mannering's tries to see the score jump out to 16-0.
PNG were not willing to go down easily, though, and were almost boosted on the half-hour mark when a defensive error from Vatuvei nearly handed them their first score.
George Kepa then looked to have the Kumuls on the board when he was found in space by a good pass from five-eight Stanley Gene, but the Kiwis defence was up to the task.
After a brief period of resistance from PNG, New Zealand then grabbed back the momentum when Perrett was found in space with a great long pass from a side-stepping Marshall in the 34th minute.
The Kiwis continued to pressurise the Kumuls in the second half as they waltzed towards an impressive victory ahead of their final Pool 1 game against England next Saturday.
