All Blacks thunder onwards

Pool D: New Zealand - 91 Tonga - 7 The Tongans breathed fire as they interrupted the famous All Black Haka with their own dramatic outpouring of foot-stomping aggression

Sadly the symbolic dancing before the kick-off was the only battle they won all night as amid cacophonous thunder and lightning storms the All Blacks racked up the highest score of the World Cup so far with a 13-try annihilation

It was a victory hailed by coach John Mitchell as evidence that the All Blacks are now fully prepared for the tournament's next phase.

"I thought the teamwork was a lot better tonight and the guys came off the field very satisfied," said Mitchell. "We know we are heading into a tougher phase of rugby now and we are ready and looking forward to it. They played with a lot of effort and we had to make some tough tackles. We just executed very well."

The scoring was dominated by outside centre Leon MacDonald who kicked 12 goals from 12 attempts in a display of flawless goal-kicking of which England star Jonny Wilkinson would have been proud.

MacDonald also weighed in with a try for a personal tally of 29 points which might just get him the nod for the upcoming match against Wales in the continued absence of the injured Tana Umaga. New Zealand's other injured centre Aaron Mauger, however, is likely to be fit to return.

As it was it took New Zealand a little while to get going but once they had settled with tries from Daniel Braid and Danny Carter midway through the first half they simply cut loose.

By half time they had steamed into a 35-0 lead with further touchdowns from Corey Flynn, Caleb Ralph and Spencer, who also completed a conversion when MacDonald was injured.

And while Tonga had the consolation of an opportunist second-half try from Pierre Hola, when he intercepted Justin Marshall's pass, the All Blacks just rolled on, scoring just 40 seconds after the restart through Ralph.

Prop Kees Meeuws also scored with two touchdowns each from Mils Muliaina and Doug Howlett, plus a penalty try when Tonga's pack lost its discipline.

NEW ZEALAND: M Muliaina (B Atiga, 76); D Howlett, L MacDonald, D Carter, C Ralph; C Spencer, J Marshall (M Nonu, 76); R So'oialo, Dl Braid (M Holah, 54), R Thorne (capt), (R McCaw, 61) A Williams, B Thorn, G Somerville (D Hewett 61), C Flynn, K Meeuws.

TONGA: S Va'enuku; S Fonua, S Hufanga (S Tu'ipolotu, 41) J Payne, T Tu'ifua (G Leger, 41); P Hola, S Martens; B Kivalu (capt), S Afeaki, I Fenukitau, V Vaki (E Langi, 71) U Latu, (M Ngauamo, 48), H Lavaka (K Pulu, 74), V Ma'asi (E Taukafa, 58), K Pulu (T Lea'aetoa, 26).

Referee: P Deluca (Argentina).