Improved All Blacks dominate France in Wellington to win series
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had called for better execution after the tight 31-27 win in the first test in Dunedin last weekend and his players delivered to sew up the series with next week's Hamilton clash to spare.
Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor and Tupou Vaa'i all crossed to give the hosts a 29-3 halftime lead before Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane added two more tries after the break.
Six Nations champions France, who travelled south without most of their first-choice players, never got going until the second half and had to settle for tries from Leo Barre and Joshua Brennan after the break.
"We wanted to bring fire in our defence and I thought we did that in most parts of the game," said captain Savea, whose 29th test five-pointer saw him overtake Richie McCaw as New Zealand's most prolific try-scoring forward
"Still, credit to the French, they never give up, they're always there. So I'm proud of our boys for sticking it in and just doing a good job tonight."
The first three tries came from attacking lineouts with scrumhalf Roigard flashing down the blindside to open the scoring in the 14th minute after Christian Lio-Willie and Savea distracted the French defence with a decoy move.
Flyhalf Beauden Barrett was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on but the All Blacks continued to attack and skipper Savea pounced on a lineout ball to wrestle his way over in the 24th minute.
Hooker Taylor's try five minutes later came on the back of a more traditional rolling maul with France's pack shorthanded after debutant lock Brennan had been yellow-carded for a tip tackle.
The French were well on the back foot four minutes before the break when offloads from Savea, Ioane and lock Fabian Holland set flanker Vaa'i free up the middle to score the pick of the tries.
The errors returned for New Zealand at the start of the second half and France took full advantage with fullback Barre going over on a nice line in the 48th minute after his forwards had sucked in defenders with some strong play in the tight.
The All Blacks hit back with a similar score from Jordan in the 54th minute, the fullback slashing through a stretched defensive line to notch up his 41st test try in his 43rd international.
New Zealand extended the lead to 43-10 in the 62nd minute when winger Ioane dived over in the corner and Barrett took his kicking tally to 11 points with a sideline conversion before being replaced by Damian McKenzie.
The French pack raised their game considerably in the second half and it was forward muscle that earned them the last word in the contest when Ireland-born Brennan forced his way over the line in the 78th minute.
"Obviously, really disappointed with the score. We wanted to prove much more today," said France winger Emilien Gailleton.
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