Post-match comments: Henry, Umaga, Kelleher, Woodward, Thomas 

"Quite outstanding," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said of his team's performance.

"The Lions played well, a lot better than last week, but our guys went up 20 per cent from last week.

"They just wanted to play and express themselves, like great sports team do.

"Daniel Carter was amazing, a quite outstanding game, superb."

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All Blacks Captain Tana Umaga said the series victory on his home ground was special.

"We went up a few notches from last week and that did the job for us. Daniel was fantastic but I think the whole team performance really did it for us tonight," he said.

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Halfback Byron Kelleher said the players were ecstatic in the dressing room after the match.

"We left a few holes around the rucks early in the game and the Lions got through, but the boys showed real character and came back to patch that up and attack the Lions," he said.

"Wrapping up the series tonight is just tremendous."

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Lions coach Clive Woodward refused to be downcast.

"I thought the guys were fantastic right up to the last minute and I am immensely proud of them," he said.

"They (New Zealand) are an outstanding team, well drilled and co-ordinated and they scored some great tries late in the game."

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Lions captain Gareth Thomas was also pleased with the improvement, if not the result. "I feel a lot better now than I did last week," he said.

"We gave everything for each other. We didn't win the game but the boys were still there after 80 minutes."


- NZPA, REUTERS