So New Zealand come to their final group match of this tournament having, as expected, won all three games relatively comfortably but their performances so far have been far from convincing. They’ve lacked composure and have made more basic errors than I’ve ever seen from an All Blacks team – but even so, I don’t think too many alarm bells will be ringing. With all credit to Georgia and Namibia, it is difficult to reach world class levels against teams fielding amateurs.

Having already guaranteed a place in the quarter finals against either France or Ireland, the final hurdle on Friday comes in the form of Tonga at St James’ Park. The closest Tonga have come to New Zealand was their 41-10 loss in the opening match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and they can technically still qualify for the quarters should we see two of the most remarkable results in Rugby history with Tonga needing to win on Friday followed by Namibia causing an upset by beating Argentina.

NEW ZEALAND

All the talk this week has been of Ma’a Nonu’s return to the team in what will be his 100th cap, a special achievement. Remarkably, even with 100 caps he will still only be the fourth most capped player in the squad to face Tonga and that experience should tell in this match.

After a poor outing against Georgia last week, the half back combination of Aaron Smith and Dan Carter line up again and will be desperate to find some form and rhythm in time for the big quarter final clash.

In the absence of the injured Richie McCaw, who took a battering against Georgia, Sam Cane will start at openside with Kieran Read leading the team. Tony Woodcock, the veteran prop, has been picked after the scrum struggled against Georgia and will help deal with the physicality of the Tongans.

Steve Hansen has called on his side to show their quality against Tonga with only one match before things get serious for New Zealand. If they can cut out the errors that have been too regular so far in their campaign as well as dominate Tonga in the scrum and lineout then it could be a big scoreline.

One to watch: Ma’a Nonu

Nonu will become the sixth centurion in New Zealand Rugby history and his return from injury is a welcome bit of news after the backline struggles against Georgia. Dan Carter spoke this week about his reliance on having Nonu outside him – he is a player that the team look towards to deliver under pressure and on his 100th appearance, expect a typically powerful performance.

TONGA

Coming into this World Cup, Tonga would have had one eye on qualifying for the quarter finals in the hope that they could grab a surprise victory over Argentina having beaten Georgia and Namibia. It wasn’t to be. Their opening defeat to Georgia now leaves them likely to finish fourth in the group meaning they will miss automatic qualification for 2019.

For a proud Rugby nation like Tonga, however, the match against New Zealand still has plenty of meaning. It’s not often they get to play their neighbours and they will be keen to draw on some of the spirit of 2011 when they shocked France in their Rugby World Cup group match.

As always, we can expect some brutal tackling as they try to impose themselves early in the match but they will need to be careful to avoid the discipline issues that caused them problems against Argentina.

Two of their front row, Halani Aulika (London Irish) and Soane Tonga’uiha (formerly of Northampton) will be well known to Premiership Rugby fans and they will need to hold their own in the scrum to give Tonga some stability to play off.

One to watch: Nili Latu

At 33, this is likely to be the final match of Nili Latu’s international career and it will be particularly special having played most of his club career in New Zealand alongside some of the players he will be lining up against. Latu is yet to actually play against the All Blacks himself but will lead from the front on Friday; he is a player who plays with a huge amount of pride so expect some of his signature bone-crunching hits as he bids farewell.

PREDICTION

Don’t expect to see a repeat of the 102-0 All Blacks victory in 2000 or their 91-7 win at the 2003 World Cup – that sort of result has, refreshingly, been absent at this World Cup. The lower-ranked teams have shown in this World Cup that they aren’t just going to roll over and if Tonga come out with the same ferocity as they did against Argentina, they could keep it close in the first half.

However, for all of Tonga’s pride and physicality there is no escaping the fact that they are one of the oldest teams in the tournament and as the game reaches the latter stages I can only see New Zealand pulling away. New Zealand by 35

By Joe Ogden (@JoeOgden90)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images