The loss of star skipper Richie McCaw put a dampener on All Blacks celebrations following their 44-12 thumping of England on Saturday.
England meanwhile packed their bags denying the marred trip south was the tour from hell.
McCaw, widely rated the world's best No.7, hopped from the field with an ankle injury 30 minutes into the Test and will be sidelined for at least six weeks.
He was diagnosed on Sunday with a high ankle ligament strain and team management said he is likely to miss the first four matches in the Tri Nations series against South Africa and Australia.
Better news for the All Blacks was that the ankle injury to senior lock Ali Williams was less serious and he may be right for the first Tri Nations Test against South Africa on July 5 while ace pivot Dan Carter emerged unscathed.
The All Blacks win on Saturday completed a two-Test rout of England who endured a horror tour of New Zealand after losing the first match 37-20 in Auckland the previous week.
The tourists were then engulfed in an off-field controversy with allegations that four players, never identified, were involved in the rape or sexual assault of a young woman.
No formal complaint was laid and on legal advice the four refused to be interviewed by police.
They were free to fly home Sunday, and although caretaker coach Rob Andrew refused to discuss the alleged incident, he denied the off-field investigation had affected the team's dismal on-field performance.
"Some of you will reflect on the [second Test] scoreboard that this wasn't a very good performance but I thought in many areas we improved and took the game on from last week," he said.
"We knew when we came down that we wanted to learn about some of the younger players.
"We have done that - we have learned some really good things and we have learned one or two things about some players that we didn't want to learn as well.
"But certainly not a tour from hell by any stretch of the imagination."
England's prime asset, their forward pack, claimed lineout superiority in both Tests but when the ball was on the ground they only held the upper hand for the first 20 minutes of the first Test.
Their backs showed little penetration in both matches and their defensive frailties were exposed despite wholesale changes between games.
England defence coach Mike Ford singled out Carter as the major difference between the two sides.
"Dan Carter is the smartest No.10 in the world," Ford said.
"He can play what he sees on the hoof and a couple of tries were dead set down to him playing what type of defence he had against him and all credit to him for that."
Of the five All Blacks tries in the second Test, Carter created the first try by Richard Kahui, scored the second himself, and set up the move which led to the third try by Ma'a Nonu.
Sione Lauaki and replacement scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan also scored tries for the All Blacks while Carter also landed four conversions before being subbed off and kicked three penalties for a match haul of 22 points.
He also scored 22 points in the first Test against England and contributed 11 points and played a part in both tries when the All Blacks beat Ireland 21-11 in their opening match of the season.
"He's in a real purple patch of form at the moment," said All Blacks coach Graham Henry, who knows that without the inspirational "follow me" leadership of McCaw he still has the tactical nous of Carter.
"He's running the ship well. He's prepared to have a crack and he's opening up defences.
"He's gone in recent times from a very good defensive player, a good navigator of the team, to a real threat with the ball."
Despite going into the Tri-Nations with a 3-0 winning record for the year, Henry was still not completely happy after his side leaked one try against Ireland and two in each Test against England.
"All in all, a pleasing performance but frustrating because we're not quite where we want to be yet."
AFP
