The "fast and fearless" style New Zealand rehearsed in Nations Championship wins over France and Italy bore fruit on Saturday against Ireland in a 40-21 victory that extended the All Blacks' winning streak at Eden Park to 53 matches over 32 years.
This was the toughest test of Dave Rennie's young tenure as All Blacks head coach, and he was vindicated in his efforts to establish a bold, ball-in-hand game in a six-tries-to-three win. More precise and more decisive than in their early tournament matches, New Zealand dominated the set pieces and the breakdown, forcing Ireland into errors in a first half that ended 28-7 after four All Blacks tries.
"We wanted to start well and we did," Damian McKenzie, dangerous from fullback and later flyhalf, said. "We had a pretty good balance between our kick game and our run game."