KEY POINTS:
The Kiwis had a good final pre-World Cup hitout when they eased past Tonga 56-8 in a rugby league test in Auckland today.
With their halves combination of James Leuluai and Benji Marshall calling the shots, New Zealand dominated the match although they had to respond to a brief period of Tongan pressure early in the second spell.
The Kiwis scored 10 tries to two, centre Jerome Ropati grabbing a hat-trick and winger Jason Nightingale and Marshall each getting a brace.
Both Leuluai and Marshall kicked well, while Marshall's impromptu moves with ball in hand creating plenty of indecision in the Tongan defence.
Up front, there was some strong running from stand-in skipper Jeremy Smith, prop Adam Blair and interchange forward Greg Eastwood, while centre Steve Matai showed he wasn't going to hold back despite carrying a shoulder injury.
Matai produced a huge hit on winger Esi Tonga in the first tackle New Zealand had to make.
Smith was given the captaincy after prop Nathan Cayless was a precautionary late scratching because of a knee problem.
Fullback Lance Hohaia and winger Manu Vatuvei were similarly withdrawn because of minor hamstring issues.
Tonga had promised plenty with a starting 13 who had all played in the National Rugby League and contained four former New Zealand or Australian internationals.
They also had loud support at Mt Smart Stadium, but they found themselves largely outgunned.
The Kiwis opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Marshall threw a superb cutout pass to send Nightingale over in the corner.
Three minutes later, after a Leuluai kick had forced a line dropout, Marshall's crossfield dart created the hole for second rower Setaimata Sa to run through to score.
Nightingale got his second touchdown when the Kiwis spread the ball on the back of some good go-forward.
The Tongans had their best chance of the half when five-eighth Feleti Mateo retrieved a short kickoff, but the move died short of the goalline.
The Kiwis hit back when a Leuluai cross kick went to Marshall, who created the opening for Ropati's first try.
Having had little of the game and down 0-22 at the interval, the Tongans came out fired up in the second half, dominating possession for the first 10 minutes.
After livewire hooker Tevita Leo-Latu was held up over the goal line, another former New Zealand Warrior, centre Cooper Vuna, finally put Tonga on the board by driving over for a try.
Tonga should have got a second shortly after, but centre Michael Jennings just failed to regather a Mateo kick a couple of metres out from the goal line.
Marshall helped to steady the New Zealand ship, grabbing a try after an interchange of passes with Eastwood.
Another Marshall inside pass lead to Ropati's second try, while another Eastwood run was finished off by Leuluai, before Ropati completed his hat-trick.
Second rower Simon Mannering crossed to help bring up the half-century, before Leo-Latu replied for Tonga.
Marshall had the last word, finishing off a break by interchange forward Sika Manu.
- NZPA
