The side actually had less ball and territory than the opposition, yet still managed to concede twice as many penalties as Tonga and also drop the ball twice as much.
There were too many concentration lapses at times and the 50-50 balls, which would work when the side had played together more, found the turf rather than the man.
There were also worrying signs at the set piece and the second half was actually being won by the Tongans until five minutes from the end.
The home side never got any ball in the second half for any length of time and fell into the trap of making some easy targets for the Tongan defence.
Passes were not accurate enough and the All Blacks will have to play a heck of a lot better to beat better teams further on in the tournament.
For 10 minutes near the end of the game, Tonga piled on the pressure with attacks off its ruck and the All Blacks could simply do nothing about it, with replacement Tongan prop Alisona Taumalolo eventually scoring with a low drive.
Though it would never win the try of the year prize, it was just reward for a gutsy Tongan outfit.
Halftime now takes 12 minutes. Perhaps the All Blacks had one too many oranges at the break.
It was not until just before midway through the second half that Jerome Kaino finally increased the lead, being fed by Richard Kahui who had put together a beautiful chip and re-gather.
Kahui was a stand-out for the All Blacks and Sonny Bill Williams showed some nice touches.
Kaino was his usual bruising self and Tony Woodcock got through a solid 50 minutes.
The All Blacks looked much, much better in the first half, scoring some nice five pointers and getting the ball off the Tongans in contact.
At halftime, ahead 29-3 it looked as though the floodgates would open but they remained firmly shut and it was only a Ma'a Nonu try under the bar at the end which nudged the All Blacks over the 40-point mark.
Fullback Israel Dagg, who faded out of the game the further it went on, scored the first try of the tournament after 10 minutes.
Kahui ran on to a nice inside ball from Dan Carter and he then linked with Williams, who made some more metres.
Quick ruck ball got the ball wide and the Tongans simply ran out of numbers, with Dagg cutting inside the last defender to score.
Eight minutes later a bit of Williams magic created the second try.
He threw a great inside ball to Isaia Toeava, who then fed Kahui who twisted inside the final covering Tongan to score.
Williams looked to be on the scoreboard within five minutes but referee George Clancy ruled some All Blacks forwards had run interference.
By now the Mexican waves had started but if the crowd was bored then they must have mighty high entertainment standards.
That charade was ended when Dagg went over for his second try just before the half-hour mark.
The All Blacks won a turnover and Toeava made a nice bust on the left before Williams threw a great ball to Dagg who dived over in the corner.
The tries were now coming thick and fast and the All Blacks secured their bonus point - yes, they do have them - when Kahui went over in the right-hand corner.
Right on halftime, Kurt Morath scored a penalty to give Tonga its first points of the game.