Champs All Blacks start new era convincingly

World champions New Zealand left room for improvement after easing to victory over Ireland in the first Test on Saturday but ominously for the chasing pack showed no signs of letting their standards slip under new coach Steve Hansen. 

A 42-10 win at Eden Park in their first match since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup last October was inspired by debutant winger Julian Savea's three tries. However, the vastly experienced flyhalf Dan Carter and captain Richie McCaw remained at the heart of the All Blacks' five tries to one performance.  

Much had been made by the All Blacks in the buildup to the match of the need to leave last year's World Cup triumph in the past as they focus on staying at the summit of world rugby, something not easily achieved by previous world champions the year after lifting the game's ultimate prize. 

So McCaw's assessment of their first match in an new era came as no great surprise. 

"Happy enough...I think you can't get too carried away. It wasn't perfect by any stretch," McCaw told reporters.  

"To win a Test match by 40 points to whatever, 10, you have got to be happy about it. But come tomorrow we will be looking ahead to the next one and that's the challenge of playing test rugby.  

"I'm happy with what we have done but...we have still got a way to go to get the game we want." 

Since New Zealand lifted the World Cup, Hansen has succeeded Graham Henry as head coach, and while some of the current sqaud are unlikely to be at the 2015 World Cup in England, he is clearly no rush to blood too many youngsters. 

The All Blacks had entered the match with three debutants in Savea, scrumhalf Aaron Smith and lock Brodie Retallick, although 12 of the starting side were part of the team who beat France in last year's final. 

"I'm a firm believer that you need experience in your side to win Test matches," Hansen, who was an assistant to Henry for eight years before taking on the head coaching role, said. 

"It's a tough old game Test rugby, it's totally different to everything else (and) there are times when things will go wrong. If you don't have that mental stability (from experienced players) then you're in a slide and things turn to crap." 
 
Ireland had the better of the opening 10 minutes but two long range penalty goals by Carter gave the hosts a 9-3 lead that quickly blew out to 16-3 with Savea's first try. 

"It has happened so much with good teams, you build on penalty kicks," Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll said of the turning point in the game.  

"They went 9-3 and then all of a sudden they get the try and people start relaxing a little bit...your passes start sticking a bit more, you can get into your rhythm a bit more. 

"Any team that I've been on that is in the ascendancy that's exactly what you try and do. Keep building the score." 

Ireland could face a minor propping crisis ahead of next weekend's second Test in Christchurch with loosehead Cian Healy, whose work at the scrum and around the field impressed, forced off the field with a shoulder injury.  

The match ended with uncontested scrums after tighthead prop Declan Fitzpatrick suffered a tight hamstring, a similar problem to the one that keep Mike Ross out of the match.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.