WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Ardie Savea scored a try and led the All Blacks superbly Saturday to a 43-17 win over France in the second test and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-test series.
Savea took over the captaincy from the injured Scott Barrett and under his leadership the All Blacks produced a more intense and physical performance than in the first test in which they scraped home 31-27.
The All Blacks dominated through their forwards against a French team that had 10 changes to its starting lineup from the first test and still lacked most of its Six Nations stars.
''This week we talked about our defense and we wanted to bring fire in that area and we did that in most parts of the game,'' Savea said. ''I proud of our boys for just sticking with it and doing a good job tonight.''
With greater control of possession, New Zealand was able to set a higher tempo than in the first test and play more often in the French half. With quick ball and an ability to dominate the collision area and offload in tackles, New Zealand scored six tries on two.
Four of those tries came in the first half and only two in the second in which the All Blacks were less clinical.
The All Blacks were dangerous around the fringes of breakdowns through Savea and Cam Roigard and unstoppable when they got the ball wide to fullback Will Jordan and winger Rieko Ioane who scored tries.
The credit belonged mostly to the forwards who fully atoned for a submissive first test performance.
