New Zealand 48-18 Lions

New Zealand: (21) 48 Tries: Umaga, Sivivatu, Carter 2, McCaw Cons: Carter 4 Pens: Carter 5 Lions: (13) 18 Tries: Thomas, Easterby Cons: Wilkinson Pens: Wilkinson 2 Lions match reaction Action as it happened Photos from Wellington Saturday's Lions blog Lions' player ratings

New Zealand produced a dazzling display to rack up their highest-ever points tally against the Lions and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Dan Carter was the star in Wellington, grabbing two tries and kicking 23 points as he scored a New Zealand record of 33 points against the Lions.

Tana Umaga, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Richie McCaw also went over.

The Lions tries came from captain Gareth Thomas and Simon Easterby, with Jonny Wilkinson kicking eight points.

They were much improved from the side which was well beaten in the first Test but, after living with the hosts for the first half, they were blown away after the break.

All Blacks fly-half Carter produced a marvellous all-round display to break the hearts of thousands of Lions supporters at Wellington's "Cake Tin" stadium.

The visitors gave those supporters hope with a dream start as new captain Thomas strode through an enormous gap around the fringes of a ruck to cross under the posts.

Wilkinson was never going to miss and his conversion put the Lions 7-0 up after just two minutes.

We were on the wrong end of the scoreline against an outstanding team Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward More Lions reaction

Within a minute Dwayne Peel sniped round the fringes of a ruck once again and scampered to halfway before being held, but the Lions kept the pressure on and were awarded a penalty, only for Wilkinson to hit the post.

The Lions won the ball back in prime attacking position but Paul O'Connell came flying into the ruck and conceded a stupid penalty, halting the Lions' momentum.

The All Blacks got on the board through two Carter penalties and the fly-half then engineered a marvellous try.

When Thomas dropped a pass Umaga fed Carter and the fly-half shrugged off Gavin Henson before racing 50 yards and returning the ball to Umaga.

The All Blacks captain crossed near the posts and Carter converted to push the hosts into the lead after 18 minutes.

New Zealand were outstanding in every position and Carter's performance was breathtaking From VB Have your say on Scrum V

Wilkinson cut the gap with his first penalty eight minutes later but straight from the re-start the Lions conceded a penalty and Carter restored the gap.

Wilkinson, who had just missed a drop goal, again trimmed the gap to three points with his second penalty before the All Blacks scored a sparkling try.

After winning a scrum five yards out from the Lions line, they spun the ball across the width of the field and Sitiveni Sivivatu confirmed his try-scoring ability by blasting over from 10m for an unconverted score.

The hosts led 21-13 at the break and within five minutes of the re-start Carter had all but extinguished the Lions' hopes.

First he landed a penalty and then crossed for a marvellous solo try, which he converted from the right touchline.

In the second half we just wanted to play and express ourselves NZ coach Graham Henry More New Zealand reaction

The Lions went back on the attack but after twice spurning kickable penalties they came away from a 10-minute period of pressure with nothing.

Things went from bad from worse for the tourists as Wilkinson was helped off with what looked like a recurrence of his long-term "stinger" injuries just before the hour mark.

Carter added a penalty to make it 34-13 and, although the Lions managed their second try through Ireland flanker Easterby, the rest of the game was an All Blacks showcase.

They added two further tries as first Carter danced through for another magical try before McCaw powered over for a short-range effort after Carter had been denied a hat-trick by a matter of inches.

The fly-half slotted both conversions as New Zealand wrapped up the series in dazzling style with one game, in Auckland next week, still to be played.

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New Zealand: Muliaina; Gear, Umaga (capt), Mauger, Sivivatu; Carter, Kelleher; Woodcock, Mealamu, Hayman, Jack, A Williams, Collins, McCaw, So'oialo.
Replacements: Witcombe, Somerville, Gibbes, Lauaki, Marshall, Nonu, MacDonald.

Lions: Lewsey; Robinson, Thomas (capt), Henson, S Williams; Wilkinson, Peel; Jenkins, Thompson, White, O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Easterby, Moody, R Jones.
Replacements: Byrne, Rowntree, Corry, M Williams, Dawson, S Jones, Horgan.