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New Zealand beat England 36-13 to round off series whitewash

Julian Savea's hat-trick inspired New Zealand to a 36-13 win and series whitewash over England on Saturday.
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The All Blacks went into the contest in Hamilton chasing a record-equalling 17th consecutive Test victory, and they had all but reached that milestone by half-time as they led 29-6 at the interval.

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England pushed the world champions hard in the first two matches of the three-Test series - going down 20-15 and 28-27 - but Steve Hansen's team turned on the style on this occasion.

Savea was the driving force behind their display, with the 23-year-old and scrum-half Aaron Smith both scoring twice in the first half as England found it impossible to cope with the hosts' attacking power.

Stuart Lancaster's men - who were put further on the back foot when Billy Vunipola was harshly sin-binned in the 21st minute - responded well after the break, with Marland Yarde scoring their only try of the game, but the All Blacks' ruthless first-period performance meant that was too little, too late.

In further good news for New Zealand, number eight Kieran Read - playing his first Test of the year after two months out with concussion - returned for the first half before being replaced by Liam Messam.

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England were on the back foot from the off, as Freddie Burns' kick-off failed to go the required 10 metres.

And they looked on their way to a hammering inside the opening 10 minutes, as Savea scored in the fourth and ninth minutes.

Smith added further tries, with England perhaps lucky to reach half-time 23 points adrift, with only two Burns penalties to show on the scoreboard.

England came out with much more intent after half-time and were rewarded when Yarde crossed.

However, even though the All Blacks were visibly tiring, Lancaster's team could not reduce the deficit further and Savea had the final say as he completed his treble in the final move of the match.

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