Hurricanes winger Julian Savea scored a hat-trick of tries as the All Blacks crushed Ireland 42-10 at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Winger Savea was making his All Black debut in the match and scored the first of his three tries in the 26th minute and his third three minutes into the second half.
The runaway win shattered any illusions Ireland had of pulling off a historic first win over the All Blacks in the 107-year history of 25 internationals between the two countries.
In their first outing since winning the Rugby World Cup last October, and with a new head coach in Steve Hansen, the All Blacks ran in five tries to one.
Savea, 21, a former IRB junior player of the year, is 1.92 metres and 103 kilograms, and with his strength and speed he proved a constant threat down the left wing during what was his first Test appearance.
He was only denied two more tries by desperate defence from Ireland fullback Rob Kearney.
All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith also produced an outstanding debut with his rapid service keeping the backline moving, and he received a standing ovation when he was substituted with 25 minutes remaining.
Ireland had opportunities, particularly in the first half when Jamie Heaslip, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo all went close, only to be tipped up in finger-tip defensive plays by Israel Dagg and Richie McCaw.
Ireland's only try came from a long kick downfield when winger Fergus McFadden outsprinted McCaw in a 50-metre race for the ball. All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter, who finished with a match haul of 17 points, started the scoring early with a third minute penalty, which was matched immediately by Ireland's Jonathan Sexton.
With the All Blacks slow to find their cohesion, Ireland spent long periods on attack in the first 15 minutes but started to lose their impetus when Carter landed two penalties in quick succession from about 50 metres out.
Ireland held out a series of All Blacks pick and goes for about five minutes before Sonny Bill Williams and Carter combined to send Savea away for his first try.
His second try, just before half-time, came from a smart blindside move orchestrated by Smith. Israel Dagg set up Savea's third try just after the break to put the All Blacks out to a 30-3 lead before McFadden found the line for Ireland.
The All Blacks responded immediately, working their way up to the Irish line where Kieran Read took the short side from a scrum near the posts and flicked the ball to an unmarked Adam Thomson.
As the rain came down in the dying minutes of the game, replacement back Aaron Cruden opened a gap for Conrad Smith to score the final try and for the All Blacks to extend their winning run at Eden Park to 28 Tests, dating back to 1994.
They also maintained their 107-year record of never losing to Ireland and showed a domination that did not augur well for the northern hemisphere side in the remaining two Tests.
The match was the first of three Tests this month and the second Test is in Christchurch next Saturday and the final Test is in Hamilton a week later.
Final Score New Zealand 42 (23) Ireland 10 (3).
Scorers
New Zealand
Tries - J. Savea 3, A. Thomson, C. Smith
Pen - D. Carter 4
Con - D. Carter 3
Drop -
Cards -
Ireland
Tries - F. McFadden
Pen - J. Sexton
Con - J. Sexton
Drop -
Cards -
Match Officials
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Teams
All Blacks
15. Israel Dagg, 14. Zac Guildford, 13. Conrad Smith, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 11. Julian Savea, 10. Dan Carter, 9. Aaron Smith, 8. Kieran Read, 7. Richie McCaw (c), 6. Victor Vito, 5. Sam Whitelock, 4. Brodie Retallick, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Andrew Hore, 1. Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Hika Elliot, Ben Franks, Ali Williams, Adam Thomson, Piri Weepu, Aaron Cruden, Ben Smith.
Ireland
15. Rob Kearney, 14. Fergus McFadden, 13. Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12. Keith Earls, 11. Simon Zebo, 10. Jonathan Sexton , 9. Conor Murray, 8. Jamie Heaslip, 7. Sean O'Brien, 6. Peter O'Mahony, 5. Donnacha Ryan, 4. Dan Touhy, 3. Declan Fitzpatrick, 2. Rory Best, 1. Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. Ronan Loughney, 18. Donncha O'Callaghan, 19. Kevin McLaughlin, 20. Eoin Reddan, 21. Ronan O'Gara, 22. Darren Cave.
