New Zealand complete 3-0 series whitewash over France
New Zealand 49-14 France, Forsyth Barr Stadium
Scorecard
Rieko Ioane scored hat-trick while Damian McKenzie contributed with 24 points as New Zealand completed a 49-14 victory over France in the third Test in Dunedin to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
Scrum-half Morgan Parra left the field early in the game after failing a Head Injury Assessment. Baptiste Serin, who replaced Parra made an impact straightaway when he scored in the 12th minute and Anthony Belleau slotted the conversion to take the visitors to seven points.
New Zealand's response came three minutes later when they kicked a penalty to the corner and eventually Sonny Bill Williams offloaded to Ben Smith that was improved by Damian McKenzie to level the scores.
As Ardie Savea left the field injured, Matt Todd, his replacement like Serin made his opportunity count with a touchdown in the 23rd minute and McKenzie with the conversion took Steve Hansen's men to 14-7. France were unwilling to relent as they managed to score just before the half hour mark through Wesley Fofana and Belleau got his second conversion right.
With the game going even, McKenzie gave New Zealand some momentum heading into the break with a converted try in the 32nd minute as the teams headed into the break with a 21-14 scoreline.
France were desperately hoping to make the second half count to avoid a series whitewash but instead McKenzie maintained his good run with his second converted try in the 47th minute and Reiko Ioane with his hat-trick in the 52nd, 58th and 64th minutes ensured the All Blacks completed a 49-14 victory.
