New Zealand sent a message to their 2023 Rugby World Cup rivals that they are not to be written off after they crushed a sorry Italy 96-17 in Lyon on Friday.
A grand total of 14 tries were chalked up by a rampant All Blacks outfit, who seem in ominous form since their opening night defeat to host nation France.
Aaron Smith led the way with a hat-trick of tries while Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Dane Coles grabbed two each, with Mark Telea, Brodie Retallick, Dalton Papali'i, Damian McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown rounding out the scoring.
Richie Mo'unga kicked 18 points off the tee while replacement McKenzie chipped in with a further four conversions on a wonderful night for New Zealand.
The only bright moments of note for a disappointing Italy side came via second-half tries from Ange Capuozzo and Monty Ioane as they were well beaten.
Italy would have dumped New Zealand out of the competition with a win but that never looked remotely on the cards from the moment in the sixth minute when Jordie Barrett launched a perfect cross-field kick for Jordan, who performed a leaping touchdown in the corner.
Tommaso Allan got Italy on the board early with a penalty but the rest of the first half was a horror show as Smith crossed three times, Savea twice and Telea once, with the line-out proving particularly profitable.
Mo'unga converted all seven first-half tries and nine in total, missing only his 10th attempt before being substituted.
Trailing 49-3 at half-time, Italy came out strongly for the second half and scored their first try in the 48th minute, Capuozzo showing his speed in the corner.
But the All Blacks went straight down the other end and crossed again, Retallick applying the finish touch after Scott Barrett had charged down an attempted clearance.
Cam Roigard was denied a try after he was deemed to have made a double movement but moments later Papali'i notched the All Blacks' ninth score.
An all-action performance on an impressive evening for his team
Congratulations to @AllBlacks backrow Ardie Savea on being named @Mastercard #POTM#RWC2023 | #NZLvITA | #Priceless pic.twitter.com/WMuULR6TRA
― Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 29, 2023
They were approaching a century as Coles twice, McKenzie, Jordan and Lienert-Brown all scythed through the Italian defence.
The final word went to Italy through Ioane's try but this was emphatically the All Blacks' night.
The teams
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Dalton Papali'i, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ofa Tu'ungafasi
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Paolo Odogwu
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
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