After another week of soul-searching from a bitter defeat, the All Blacks have answered their critics in emphatic fashion, ruthlessly dismantling Argentina 53-3 in their Hamilton rematch.
Putting their indisicplined performance behind them, New Zealand pounced on an opposition struggling to duplicate their feat of seven days earlier in wet conditions that made ball-handling tricky - for one team at least.
Incredibly, the home team kept their mistakes to an absolute minimum - just three for the match - while the Pumas' hands let them down repeatedly.
The All Blacks used a varied kicking attack to keep their rivals on the backfoot, captilising on their errors to score seven tries, with first-five Richie Mo'unga kicking perfectly off the tee, until substituted off.
The 50-point romp catapults New Zealand to the top of the Rugby Championship table for now, with Australia hosting South Africa later Saturday.
Underfire again for retaining the same starting XV from last week's historic defeat, coach Ian Foster was finally rewarded with a consumate display of discipline that kept Pumas winger Emiliano Boffelli to just one shot at goal, which he duly slotted.
Mo'unga opened the scoring with an early penalty, before tries from prop Ethan de Groot and Caleb Clarke set the All Blacks rolling. Boffelli halted the onslaught momentarily with his lone penalty, but when Argentina lost lock Tomas Lavanini to a yellow card before halftime, Rieko Ioane crossed from a close-range scrum for a 24-3 lead at the break.
While the Pumas never seriously challenged for a repeat victory, the game was decided midway through the second half, when New Zealand was guilty of repeat offending near their goal-line and lost prop Fletcher Newell to a yellow card.
Argentina had several opportunities to press for the try, but were held out and eventually spilled the ball with the line beckoning. From a defensive scrum, the All Blacks ran from deep inside their 22, with Ioane bursting over halfway, before finding support.
Captain Sam Cane, whose form was under as much scrutiny as his coach's, handled twice and eventually provided the try assist to fullback Jordie Barrett to break the Pumas resistance.
No.8 Ardie Savea also scored from an attacking lineout and maul, just before Newell returned from the bin, as New Zealand scored 12 points shorthanded. Returning from six weeks sidelined with a broken cheekbone, lock Brodie Retallick was also driven over for a try with fulltime in sight.
But the ultimate show of ruthlessness came after the final siren, as Argentina pressed to grab a consolation try. Turning the ball over, the All Blacks went on attack and repeatedly opted for scoring plays, instead of simply ending the contest.
In some sports, that might be considered unsportsmanlike, running up a score against well-beaten opponents, but in a campaign that has seen more lows than highs, the home side were determined to finish with a flourish and succeeded, when Beauden Barrett ran an angle to put his team over 50 points.
"They played well," reflected Foster. "We'd trained like that the last two weeks, but didn't put it on the park last week and did this week.
"There are a lot of reasons why it went well, but to a man, I was very proud of them.
"We got a good flow on early and we carried well, we carried smart. There was a big difference in the officiating too - the breakdown was very different and gave you a lot of confidence to play with the ball."
The All Blacks now turn their attention to Australia and the Bledisloe Cup series, with the Wallabies fancying their chances of ending the Eden Park curse to steal the trophy for the first time in 20 years.
New Zealand 53 (De Groot, Ioane, Savea, Retallick, J Barrett, B Barrett & Clarke tries; Mo'unga 2 penalties & 4 conversions, J Barrett 2 conversions) Argentina 3 (Boffelli penalty)
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