New Zealand v France - 3rd Test

Well, it lacked a bit of polish from both sides (especially the All Blacks), and may not have reached the joyful epicness of last Saturday ... but its a clean sweep, 3-0, of teh France by New Zealand.

The stats from the Test are here in this infographic.

Most notably it will probably be remembered for Beauden ‘Keys to The Mill’ Barrett’s last minute try – his second beauty in two weeks. Otherwise it was a tad error prone, and just never really delivered as an exciting game. I mean, it was close for a while, but I don’t know ... simmered.

No respite for the French. I still believe Saint-Andre has not got a Scooby what his best team is, and until he (or any other French coach) picks a consistent 22, they will not string performances together in the Six Nations, let alone on tour in the Southern Hemisphere.

Apart from that, Carter’s back. Ranger is a loss. Vito didn’t spark (again). Ben Smith is amazing. Luatua and Matt Todd became All Blacks ... though where they sit for the rest of 2013 is anybody’s guess.

Great series win by New Zealand. Now the torturous travel schedule and brutal quadrangular opposition of Australia, South Africa and Argentina beckon in this year’s Rugby Championship. I hope we can again show some of that mighty defence springing into ruthless counter-attacking that we unleashed in the second Test.