New Zealand coach Graham Henry paid tribute to the British & Irish Lions after the All Blacks secured a series victory with a 48-18 triumph in the second Test.
Daniel Carter claimed a personal tally of 33 points as the All Blacks saw off an early barrage from the Lions to cruise home in Wellington.
And Henry – who led the British & Irish Lions in 2001 – saluted the efforts of Sir Clive Woodward’s players.
Henry told Sky Sports: "The Lions played well. We have to give them some credit. They played better than last week but our guys were up 20% on last week.
"They opened us up but then we settled and played our football. They just want to express themselves, these guys enjoy playing and they showed that.
"Daniel Carter was quite amazing, he had a superb game. I think he was man of the match."
Lions captain Gareth Thomas was disappointed with the defeat but insisted it was not because of any lack of effort.
Thomas said: "The boys were out on their feet. We had a great start but over the 80 minutes we weren’t the better team.
"We turned the ball over and gave the ball away on attack. Against a team like this you can’t do it.
"Regardless of the scoreboard we thought we were still in it for the 80 minutes and we tried hard."
