It was the little moments in this test that exposed the huge disparity in class between the All Blacks and England.
Moments such as Ma'a Nonu's fend of Charlie Hodgson's tackle attempt shortly after half-time which created a Mils Muliaina try.
Or the knock-on by English captain Steve Borthwick 4min later that led to the ball being fed wide for Sitiveni Sivivatu to score his 23rd try in his 23rd test.
And even the two times England had a man sent to the sinbin, surprising those who wondered whether the All Blacks would struggle to adapt to a northern referee running the game under the old rules.
But this was never a struggle for the All Blacks.
They took command of the game in the 20min spells either side of the break.
They played with more pace, matching a penetrative backline against England's pedestrian mob and breaking the line 11 times to England's two.
The All Blacks made a mockery of the pre-game blather surrounding the England scrum by dominating the set phase for most of the game.
It all suggests a similar result in the second test in Christchurch on Saturday.
England will be bruised, the All Blacks buoyant.
But there is no chance the All Blacks will let the pressure off because they know the Tri-Nations is around the corner.
The middle 40min of the first test featured some outstanding rugby from the All Blacks, who scored four tries in 26min.
Dan Carter, in a smashing return to form, contributed to the first, when his delicate grubber sat up for Conrad Smith.
Carter then scored the second when he lurked outside Sivivatu from a scrum move.
Carter set such a standard at his peak in 2005-06 that he has been judged to have been merely average in the past 18 months.
Some might also suggest he's become something of a flat-track bully, saving his very best performances for the games that matter the least.
What can't be denied is that when he runs to the line, kicks seven goals out of seven attempts and leads a rampant backline by example, he has no peer.
The principal concern for the All Blacks is their line-out. Twenty times they went up on their own throw and seven times it was lost.
A better team - think South Africa with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha - will put even more pressure on the All Black line-out, so it badly needs some remedial work.
The All Blacks had all their points on the board by the 47th minute, after which time they started piling on the reserves.
That is a fair excuse for the flat patch that ended the game, but it would have been better if the newcomers had injected some urgency.
England will cling to the promise of two-try winger Topsy Ojo and loose forwards Luke Narraway and David Rees as it surveys the wreckage of the test.
The visitors might also take heart from the opening 20min, when they shook the All Blacks with some excellent work at the breakdown and some traditional English forward drives.
But there won't be much more solace than that.
England showed a lack of imagination, made errors in crucial parts of the field and at times looked rudderless on defence.
The Hodgson-Olly Barkley combination in the five-eighths was a disaster and Matt Stevens, ranked a quality prop, was hammered in the scrums.
It is far from the worst English side to come to New Zealand - everyone remembers the 1998 rabble - but it seems doubtful it can avoid another lesson in Christchurch this weekend.
Test numbers Scores
All Blacks 37
Conrad Smith, Dan Carter, Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu tries; Dan Carter 4 conversions, 3 penalty goals.
England 20
Topsy Ojo 2 tries; Olly Barkley 2 conversions, 2 penalty goals.
Half-time: All Blacks 23-13.
Crowd: 44,000.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
Statistics
Possession: England 51%-49%.
Territory: All Blacks 57%-43%.
Line-outs: All Blacks 13 (lost seven), Ireland five (lost none).
Scrums won: 6-6.
Rucks and mauls: England 72-61.
Penalties and free kicks: All Blacks 16-9.
