Improved All Blacks dominate France in Wellington to win series

WELLINGTON :New Zealand hit their stride with a much improved performance to beat France 43-17 in the second test on Saturday, running in six tries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match 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