Rugby: England's coach pleased to see the back of 'phenomenal' Savea

Left wing Savea scored a hat-trick against England in the third test and is storming the ladder of AB try-scorers. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Stuart Lancaster described Julian Savea as a "phenomenal player" but will be more than happy to see the back of him after the All Blacks' left wing continued his try-scoring exploits against England — a second test hat-trick which could easily have been four.

In fact, had the pass from the otherwise superb Ben Smith not travelled forward, Savea could have scored three in the first 14 minutes. He had to wait until the 82nd minute for this third as the All Blacks re-discovered their attacking verve which effectively destroyed England in the first half, and it was a just reward.

Savea, who scored a hat-trick on debut against Ireland at Eden Park in 2012, now has 23 tries in 22 tests, including an incredible eight in four tests against England.

He is now ranked 14th among the best All Blacks try-scorers; Doug Howlett leads with 49 in 61 tests.

The men in white, quite simply, do now know how to cope with Savea's speed, 1.93m and 106kg frame, and a skillset which belies his size.

Shutting down his space would be a good place to start, but England, after defending well in Auckland and Dunedin, went strangely Awol in this area at Waikato Stadium.

The first physical and psychological blows were landed in the fourth and ninth minutes when Savea went over on the left — including a brilliant adjustment to receive a pass on the half volley from Aaron Cruden — and they could last for some time.

England's next test is against the All Blacks at Twickenham on November 8.

"He is a phenomenal player," Lancaster said afterwards. "His pick up off the floor for his second try was outstanding and probably a reflection of the skills the All Blacks showed, particularly during the first half."

Savea couldn't pinpoint why he has scored so many tries against England; settling instead on the work of the All Blacks' forwards in providing the platform and his midfield of Ma'a Nonu and the impressive Malakai Fekitoa on debut for creating the space.

"The forwards really stood up in those first 20 minutes and the backs' execution with their catch and pass was brilliant and I was just able to finish off," Savea said.

The All Blacks have shown a remarkable ability to finish tests strongly under Steve Hansen — Dunedin apart when the English scored two late tries — and so it continued on Saturday when, the final hooter having sounded and the home side a player short due to Wyatt Crockett's yellow card, they continued to attack, with Savea the final beneficiary.

"We were on the back foot and on defence for a lot of the second half," he said. "To be able to hold them out and finish off with a try — we could have given up and just kicked the ball out — but that's the confidence that we have. If we see the opportunities we'll just take them."