The winners and losers from the All Blacks' thumping of Tonga
The All Blacks put on a clinic as they thrashed a hapless Tonga side 92-7 in their final pre-World Cup fixture before the tournament kicks off in a fortnight’s time.
Such an emphatic win highlighted just how dangerous the All Blacks can be at full tilt, and with the sport’s biggest event just around the corner, the threat posed by the reigning world champions is becoming clearer and clearer to see.
With that in mind, here are a select few winners and losers from the 85-point drubbing.
Winner – George Bridge
A stunning display of running rugby from the test rookie saw him rack up an incredible stat sheet which read eight line breaks, 10 defenders beaten, 236 metres ran and, of course, a whopping four tries.
There’s still work to be done on his decision-making on the ball, as there were times when he probably should have looked for the pass rather than go himself, but against such a weak defence, it didn’t matter as Bridge’s pace and finishing prowess shone.
After Saturday afternoon’s performance and their compelling display against the Wallabies at Eden Park, both he and Sevu Reece look set for starting roles on either win at the World Cup.
Loser – Rieko Ioane
On the flip side of Bridge’s outstanding form is the demotion of Rieko Ioane from the match day squad.
He burst onto the professional scene as an exciting young talent, and he looked as if he was going to fulfil that potential after a barnstorming season with the All Blacks in 2017.
He continued that through to last year, yielding back-to-back World Rugby Player of the Year nominations, but two quiet outings against the Springboks and Wallabies in recent weeks has seen him fall behind Bridge, who has taken his opportunities sublimely, in the national pecking order.
Having been dropped from the All Blacks’ last two tests – both matches of which Bridge was a standout in – it’s beginning to look more and more likely that Ioane won’t be a starting winger in the key World Cup matches, something that nobody would have envisaged even just a few months ago.
Winner – Ryan Crotty
A broken thumb sustained in the Crusaders’ 30-26 Super Rugby final win over the Hurricanes in June had ruled Crotty out of action up until last weekend, and consequently, he missed the All Blacks’ entire Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup campaigns.
Playing in his place was Ngani Laumape, who continued the impressive form that he had built throughout the past two years in Super Rugby and at test level.
So good was Laumape that many expected the blockbusting midfielder to win a spot in the All Blacks’ World Cup squad, but when he was dropped for Crotty, who hadn’t played a test in 2019 but won the nod due to his leadership, versatility and experience, questions were asked of Steve Hansen’s selection.
Those qualms were alleviated in Hamilton as Crotty made a strong, injury-free return to bag a brace of tries and set up another in a 65-minute outing that will give New Zealand fans some reassurance regarding Hansen’s World Cup selections.
Loser – Tonga
No doubt this test would have been marked as a special occasion for everyone in the Tongan squad, as it is a rarity for the ‘Ikale Tahi to play against tier one opposition, let alone the All Blacks.
However, getting romped by 85 points may have been a dampener on a sunny afternoon at Waikato Stadium, with their severe lack of fixtures against stronger opposition glaringly obvious.
That’s not a fault of theirs – the blame for that should lay on World Rugby’s shoulders – but after head coach Toutai Kefu revealed his side’s aspirations of scalping England, Argentina, France and the USA to make a maiden World Cup quarter-final appearance earlier in the week, this result is a reality check for Tonga before they head into the ‘Pool of Death’.
Winner – Josh Ioane
Josh Ioane voiced his frustrations of a false start to his test career after he wasn’t subbed on for a test debut against Argentina in the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship opener in July.
He was subsequently dropped from the reduced Bledisloe Cup squad and didn’t make the final World Cup side, but a minor shoulder injury to Richie Mo’unga paved the way for Ioane to make a brief return to the squad for the Tonga test.
Named on the bench again, he was rolled on in place of Beauden Barrett at half-time, and made an immediate impact as he assisted a George Bridge try right from the re-start and went on to set up a further three tries in a stunning test debut.
Loser – World Rugby rankings
The All Blacks may have just registered their biggest victory in 11 years, but they’ve lost their place as the world’s No. 1 side to Ireland, who picked up a 19-10 victory over Wales in Dublin over the weekend.
The world ranking system has come under plenty of criticism in recent times after New Zealand, Wales and now Ireland have all spent time at the summit of world rugby, despite the Welsh having not beaten the All Blacks since 1953, and Ireland falling well off the pace they set for themselves over the last couple of seasons.
The 92-7 spanking of Tonga was a big statement from Hansen’s men going into the World Cup, and they, along with England and South Africa, must surely be viewed as the three title favourites in Japan.
The world rankings aren’t representative of that, though, as it will be Ireland rather than any of those three teams who will go into the tournament with the No. 1 ranking.
If World Rugby want to maintain credibility within the global game, this is something that needs to be fixed.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
You probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to comments