Tonga showed no sign of stage fright in front of a full house at Bristol yesterday as they enjoyed their big day and in doing so raised serious questions about the quality of this current New Zealand side.
The All Blacks must have had forebodings even before the kick-off. Their haka was met by the Tongans' own formidable war dance, the ikale tahi, that produced an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. It left no doubt that here was Tonga's chance to settle old scores and they were going to make the most of it.
For 60 minutes the Tongans' tough tackling and slick handling knocked the All Blacks out of their stride. Some of the most dangerous attacking players in the world were rendered impotent and began committing basic errors.
Dave Waterston, the Tonga coach, had said before the game that New Zealand were "not as good as people think", and his team set out to prove this was more than pre-match bravado. It is true that Tonga rarely threatened their opponents' line but in the early stages they kept within a score as a result of resolute defence. "In my experience this was the greatest performance by a Tongan rugby team," was Waterston's verdict afterwards.
The New Zealand coach John Hart acknowledged that "we will have to improve a considerable amount for the England game". He was, however, delighted that Jonah Lomu had come through a full game even though he admitted the team's performance had been far from vintage.
Lomu, who was born in Tonga, produced the initial breakthrough when he crossed for the first of his two tries. In the seventh minute the out-half Andrew Mehrtens received the ball from a ruck and feigned to use the three players outside him. Instead he flicked an inside pass to Lomu who was never going to be stopped. On 60 minutes the ball was worked wide by Josh Kronfeld and Mehrtens to Lomu who was again strong enough to make the line.
Against a rapidly tiring Tongan side the All Blacks were at last able to take control and players such as Christian Cullen and the wing Tana Umaga began evading tacklers rather than being buried. Until Lomu struck for his second try, though, New Zealand had to rely on the boot of Mehrtens to keep the scoreboard ticking over as three first-half penalties were followed by a fourth before the hour mark.
Tonga had their moments and a fine opening spell was rewarded with a 22nd-minute penalty for Siua Taumalolo after Randell went over the top at a ruck. It brought a huge roar from the crowd whose sympathies lay with the underdogs. Six minutes later prop Craig Dowd committed the same offence and produced the same outcome.
With the clock kicking down to half-time a clever restart by the out-half Elisi Vunipola, who had an outstanding game, caught Jeff Wilson waiting for the ball to dribble into touch. When the ball failed to arrive the ensuing attacking platform led to another penalty which Taumalolo kicked.
Tonga were throwing body and soul into defence but not always legally with yellow cards shown to Dave Edwards and Isileli Fatani. But the strenuous Tongan effort finally took its toll and three tries in the last quarter gave the New Zealanders the sort of scoreline expected of them.
Kronfeld and Norm Maxwell scored wide out and when the Tongans lost control at a scrum the replacement scrum-half Byron Kelleher hacked on and chased before picking up and diving over.
But the final scoreline failed to disguise a disappointing display by the All Blacks for the first hour. The question now is whether this was a one-off aberration. It is safe to assume that Hart and his players know they will have to raise their game more than one gear if they are to make an impact at Twickenham in five days' time.
SCORERS: New Zealand: Tries: Lomu 2, Kronfeld, Maxwell, Kelleher. Conversions: Mehrtens 4. Penalties: Mehrtens 4. TONGA: Penalties: Taumalolo 3.
NEW ZEALAND: Wilson, Umaga, Cullen, Ieremia, Lomu, Mehrtens, Marshall, Hoeft, Oliver, Meeuws, Maxwell, Brooke, Thorne, Kronfeld, Randell. Replacements: Gibson for Ieremia (68), Kelleher for Marshall (63), Willis for Maxwell (70), Dowd for Meeuws (12). Replacements not Used: Spencer, Blowers, Hammett.
TONGA: Taumalolo, Tatafu, Tiuete, Taupeaafe, Tuafahema, Vunipola, Marten, Fainga'anuku, Moe Laru Vunipola, Taumoepeau, Kivalu, Fatani, Fakatou, Koloi, Toloke. Replacements: Tapueluelu for Vunipoli (79), Tuipulotu for Martins (27), Mafi for Kivalu (40), Te Pou for Koloi (40), Edwards for Toloke (69), Ta'u for Fainga'anuku (56). Replacements not Used: Maka.
Referee: D Bevan (Wales).
