Steve Hansen stunned by All Blacks' display against Springboks in South Africa
Even coach Steve Hansen couldn't believe what he was seeing at times from his All Blacks.
A 57-15 rout of South Africa was among the most comprehensive displays in Hansen's five-year reign as head coach, which is saying something given the success he has enjoyed.
But he was quick to divert praise for the nine-try performance to his players, after giving them a licence to attack.
That was obvious in several of their tries, which came from a willingness to keep the ball in hand.
Often, to Hansen's surprise, it came from a long way out.
"There were one or two times when we attacked from deep that I thought maybe a kick would have been OK," he said.
"But you've just got to let them play. They've got the skills and understand how we want them to play. It was a special performance."
The winning margin was the biggest by any team in Test history on South African soil, surpassing New Zealand's 52-16 win in Pretoria in 2003.
While the Springboks scored all their points through penalty kicks, the All Blacks eschewed several opportunities to score three points.
They chose to attack relentlessly, successfully employing a game plan to tire the bedraggled hosts.
"It took us a while to settle down but once we started running hard and straight and into holes, we caused them a few problems," Hansen said.
"We asked them to make a lot of tackles. Yes, we made a couple of errors but in the end they ran out of petrol a wee bit and part of that's because of the tackling we made them do in the first half."
Source: Getty.
The hard-to-please coach said it was a better performance than the last one in Argentina.
"However, it was not a perfect performance so we will not get too carried away.
"We will enjoy the moment because we managed to play some quality rugby and make some people proud."
All Blacks captain Kieran Read said he felt for some time that his side were capable of delivering a special performance.
"We came close in a few matches last year without ever quite getting there," he said after winning at a ground where New Zealand lost five of eight previous Tests.
"To come to South Africa and achieve a victory like that was amazing. We cannot help but be excited by our performance tonight.
"The All Blacks are a great bunch of men and I am privileged to be leading them. I am loving the way we are playing right now."
Flanker Jerome Kaino says taking the sting out of South Africa's physical game was the first task, opening the door for seven second-half tries.
He says the All Blacks felt confident of pulling clear in the second half after leading just 12-9 at the break.
"A lot of times it comes down to belief. There's a great brotherhood here and the guys are enjoying their rugby at the moment."
The New Zealand side showed no signs of any distraction from the midweek controversy surrounding Aaron Smith. The halfback chose to return home after being suspended for a game after it emerged he was involved in a tryst with a woman in a disabled toilet at Christchurch Airport.
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The win saw the All Blacks complete the most dominant campaign of any team in the history of the Sanzaar competition, securing a bonus point in each of their six wins.
New Zealand clinched the southern hemisphere championship after only four rounds, leaving South Africa, Australia and Argentina trailing in their wake.
Success over the Springboks also moved the All Blacks within one victory of a world record 18 in a row.
And few pundits would bet against the Read-skippered men in black winning again when they host Australia in Auckland on October 22.
New Zealand previously achieved 17 straight Test victories in 1969 and 2014 and South Africa matched the feat in 1998.
-With NZN and AFP
