Ireland Overwhelmed

The All Blacks recorded their biggest ever winning margin over Ireland with a 60-0 winning margin in the final Test in Hamilton.

Ireland trailed 29-0 at the break after tries from Sam Cane, Sonny Bill Williams (2) and Ben Smith.

They began the second half with 14 players after Rob Kearney was shown a yellow card in stoppage time of the opening half for, according to referee Romain Poite, a deliberate knock-on as the Blacks threatened the Irish line.

And there was no respite. It was a case of one way traffic for the entire second half and the tries flowed from Cane again, Hosea Gear, Liam Messam, Israel Dagg and finally Adam Thomson.

Unlike last week, Ireland didn't start well and found themselves 21 points down after twenty minutes as the Blacks visited an intensity on them that they simply could not either match or handle.

Time after time, the Irish found themselves being hurled back in the tackle and though their lineout stood up well, with Donnacha Ryan commanding in the air, their set scrum wasn't the force it was in Christchurch.

As a contest it was over at the break and afterwards coach Declan Kidney admitted his side had suffered a hammering. "They played well but at times we let them. The first twenty minutes were decisive. We were a bit too loose, they won all the collisions and it was our job to front up and we didn't manage to do that."