All Blacks complete 3-0 series victory

All Blacks 38 Lions 19

The All Blacks sealed a 3-0 series victory over the Lions in the third test at Eden Park in Auckland tonight.

The All Blacks scored five tries through Conrad Smith, Ali Williams, Tana Umaga and Rico Gear.

The Lions started strongly for the second week running, but once again were unable to keep up with New Zealand who gradually showed the gap in skill levels between the two teams and always seemed to have a man over on attack.

After a week of incessant rain, conditions were reasonable at kick-off with a fairly strong breeze and a mild 12C, but the showers returned during the first half.

Second-test star Dan Carter was unavailable for the match with an injury, as were Richie McCaw and Aaron Mauger. For the Lions, hooker Steve Thompson was a late withdrawal with a virus, joining a long injury list including Jonny Wilkinson.

A minute's silence was held before the game to remember the victims of the bombings in London on Thursday. Some fans in the capacity crowd of over 47,000 held placards denouncing terrorism.

The All Blacks' first try came after the Lions had taken an early 6-0 lead through two penalties from Stephen Jones and All Blacks captain Tana Umaga had been sin-binned for killing the ball as the Lions threatened to score a try.

But the lead was short-lived. The tourists failed to make a series of crucial tackles and Conrad Smith waltzed in on 10 minutes. Debutante first five Luke McAlister converted.

The second try came three minutes later when McAlister put a grubber through which Lions halfback Dwayne Peel made a mess of collecting to let in Ali Williams. McAlister again converted to give the 14-man All Blacks a 14-6 lead.

Jones scored his third penalty from three before Umaga came back on. Another exchange of penalties then made it 17-12 after a high-scoring opening 22 minutes.

There was a pause in scoring until just before halftime, when McAlister burst through following a scrum awarded for a Josh Lewsey knock-on. McAlister set up Umaga for the try. McAlister converted to give the All Blacks a 24-12 lead at the break.

Marty Holah came on at the start of the second half and Greg Somerville replaced Tony Woodcock on 44 minutes. However, the biggest cheer was for Justin Marshall, making probably his final appearance for the All Blacks.

His arrival came with half an hour left, and within moments he had led a perfectly executed training field move and set up the final pass to Umaga for his second try of the night.

Wing Sitiveni Sivivatu appeared to have scored another try on 53 minutes after a long chase downfield. But play was called back for a late tackle by Jerry Collins which earned him ten minutes in the sin-bin.

At the other end, TMO Andrew Cole ruled there was no try when the Lions drove over but failed to touch down. However, after another two attacks, they successfully pushed over through Lewis Moody.

The conversion from Jones narrowed the gap to 31-19.

The All Blacks continued to look dangerous, only Lions replacement Shane Horgan preventing a try after a several-phase move involving slick passing and lay-offs with seven minutes left.

Gear then finished the series in style, intercepting a pass, kicking through and then kicking on before touching down.

All Blacks 38 (Tries: Tana Umaga 2, Conrad Smith, Ali Williams, Rico Gear tries; Penalty: Luke McAlister; Conversions: McAlister 5)
Lions 19 (Try: Lewis Moody; Penalties: Stephen Jones 4; Conversion: Jones)

Halftime: 24-12