AUCKLAND - New Zealand completed their destruction of the British and Irish Lions on Saturday with a 38-19 victory in the third and final test.
Captain Tana Umaga scored two tries as the All Blacks followed up their 21-3 win in Christchurch and 48-18 victory in Wellington to condemn the Lions to their first series wipeout against any nation in 22 years.
New Zealand scored five tries to one and were always in control despite playing a quarter of the match a man down after centre Umaga and flanker Jerry Collins were sin-binned.
Conrad Smith, Ali Williams and Rico Gear crossed once each. Luke McAlister, who replaced the injured Dan Carter at flyhalf, booted five conversions and a penalty from six shots at goal and had a hand in two tries.
England flanker Lewis Moody scored a consolation try for the Lions after he was driven over in a maul while Wales flyhalf Stephen Jones kicked four penalties and a conversion in the absence of Jonny Wilkinson.
"It's been a difficult series but we didn't give up," said Lions captain Gareth Thomas. "If you look at the series as a whole we weren't the better team. The All Blacks deserved it."
"We're very happy, it's been a tough week," said Umaga. "They battered us and there are a lot of weary bodies out there.
"They were tenacious, they never gave up and they performed like true Lions."
The Lions, just as they had in the previous two tests, made a flying start but let themselves down through poor tackling and handling, and a lack of cohesion and imagination with the ball.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
They squandered a golden opportunity to score an early try when Irish lock Donncha O'Callaghan went for the line himself when he had three unmarked men outside him and repeatedly lost possession whenever they got themselves in position to attack.
Umaga tackled O'Callaghan just short of the line but was handed a yellow card when he deliberately killed the ball, presenting Jones with a simple shot at goal.
Jones made no mistake with the penalty, giving the Lions a 6-0 lead, but the All Blacks hit back with 14 unanswered points despite being a man down to seize control of the match.
Smith, who replaced the injured Aaron Mauger at centre, strolled through a weak attempt at a tackle from Irish fullback Geordan Murphy to score the first try after just 10 minutes.
Four minutes later, the All Blacks scored another easy try when Wales scrumhalf Dwayne Peel dropped the ball on his own line trying to field a McAlister grubber kick and Williams pounced on the rebound.
Jones kept the Lions within reach with another two penalties before Umaga scored on the stroke of halftime to give the All Blacks a 12-point lead which they never surrendered.
McAlister made the initial break when he beat two tacklers then offloaded for Umaga to dive over near the posts and put the All Blacks 24-12 in front.
Umaga scored his second try eight minutes into the second half when he charged on to a flat pass from replacement scrumhalf Justin Marshall to stretch the margin to 19 points.
The All Blacks looked to have gone even further in front when their Fijian-born winger Sitiveni Sivivatu scored off a perfectly placed kick from lock Chris Jack.
The try was disallowed when Collins was sin-binned for a shoulder charge on Jones in the build-up.
The Lions were able to capitalise on the one-man advantage when they drove Moody over but the All Blacks had the final say when Gear scored in the right corner after intercepting the ball and regathering his own chip kick for a spectatular solo try.
"We gave everything tonight but in the end we weren't quite sharp enough, defensively we let another two soft tries in tonight," said coach Clive Woodward.
"Their skill levels are just a little above ours at the moment if we're honest.
"It's not the time to apportion blame - apart from myself, I'm in charge, I'm the guy that has to shoulder the responsibility of winning or losing," said Woodward who guided England to victory in the 2003 World Cup.
Teams:
New Zealand:
15-Mils Muliaina; 14-Rico Gear, 13-Conrad Smith, 12-Tana Umaga (captain), 11-Sitiveni Sivivatu; 10-Luke McAlister, 9-Byron Kelleher (20-Justin Marshall 47); 8-Sione Lauaki (19-Marty Holah 41), 7-Rodney So'oialo, 6-Jerry Collins, 5-Ali Williams, 4-Chris Jack (18-James Ryan 77); 3-Greg Somerville, 2-Keven Mealamu, 1-Tony Woodcock (17-Campbell Johnstone 45).
Lions: 15-Geordan Murphy (21-Ronan O'Gara 66); 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Will Greenwood, 12-Gareth Thomas (captain) (22-Shane Horgan 51), 11-Josh Lewsey; 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Dwayne Peel (20-Matt Dawson 49); 8-Ryan Jones (18-Martin Corry 68), 7-Lewis Moody (19-Martyn Williams 76), 6-Simon Easterby, 5-Paul O'Connell, 4-Donncha O'Callaghan, 3-Julian White, 2-Shane Byrne (16-Gordon Bulloch 70), 1-Gethin Jenkins (17-Graham Rowntree 49).