Sympathy is rarely felt for a rival rugby nation yet it was impossible to suppress pangs of exactly that emotion for Ireland. The cruel, crushing nature of this seventh World Cup quarter-final exit has never been so severely inflicted. As the Ireland coach, Joe Schmidt, exclaimed, the scars of this defeat will remain for some time. There could be no more brutal way to sign off his tenure.

While Ireland knew the All Blacks would respond after two defeats in their last three meetings, they were powerless to stop it. Four years ago it was a similar theme. The All Blacks arrived at the World Cup quarter-finals to meet France, their supposed World Cup nemesis. Playing at the same Cardiff venue, memories of 2007 were rolled out in the build-up. The All Blacks bottled that fury and produced one of their best performances on this stage, sweeping France aside to win 62-13.

Their new nemesis suffered the same fate. Andy Farrell’s defensive blueprint rattled the All Blacks with the British & Irish Lions and Ireland twice before. Yet here at Tokyo Stadium, his green wall came crumbling down as the All Blacks skipped to the edge with consummate ease.

After watching New Zealand take Ireland apart in this seven-try masterclass, the England coach, Eddie Jones, may want to retract his statement about looking forward to facing the holders in next Saturday’s semi-finals. Schmidt’s scars should heed warning.

England will need to be at their absolute peak to contain the All Blacks’ vast array of attacking threats. When at their best like this, they do the basic skills better and faster than anyone. Their catch, pass, clean-out, ball protection, carry and tackle against Ireland were all supreme.

The dominance of Steve Hansen’s side was such that they missed just one first-half tackle and threw 16 offloads to Ireland’s two. By half-time they led 22-0, the game in effect done.

Ireland were left beaten and broken – their captain, Rory Best, revealing after his last Test that teammates shed tears and their changing room fell dead silent. The All Blacks have again set the benchmark and the ultimate irony is that Ireland inspired the genesis of New Zealand’s swift rebuild.

They clinched their second straight World Cup crown four years ago at Twickenham by relying on experience. Dan Carter nailed drop goals. Richie McCaw inspired. Fellow veterans Ma’a Nonu and Jerome Kaino came to the fore when it mattered most. This time around, it is the exuberance of unburdened youth driving the All Blacks forward.

Over the past 11 months, since their last loss to Ireland in Dublin, the All Blacks have completely overhauled their attacking game and promoted youth. For this match they left Ryan Crotty out of their team and Sonny Bill Williams on the bench, the midfield comprising Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue. Their rookie wings, George Bridge and Sevu Reece, could have cracked under the bright lights but instead they shone. The playmaking partnership of Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett, the man of the match thriving after being shifted from fly-half to full-back, gets better with every outing.

These sweeping changes have come in large part because of the pain Ireland caused. While youth continues to inspire the quest for further World Cup history their captain, Kieran Read, sits at the heart of their revival. Read is often unfairly cast in McCaw’s overriding shadow but his performance against Ireland demonstrates his ability to rise to the same levels. He carried the ball 18 times but it was his punishing defence, with several hits forcing turnovers, that set the tone for his men to start with such ruthless intent.

Ireland never recovered from the opening onslaught and it will take many of their squad years to recover from this result. As Schmidt and his players bid sayonara, there is a sense the All Blacks are only getting started. With set plays, wrap-around loops, wingers popping up on the other side of the field, crossfield kicks and offloads, they produced so many variations Ireland had no clue what was coming next from where. Their attacking ability appears so difficult to plan for because it is so new.

England next week present a great challenge, one the All Blacks will treat with the utmost respect. For Jones and his players, the prospect must be much more daunting than they thought in the immediate aftermath of their own impressive win over the Wallabies. At the very least there can be little doubt who will start as favourites.