All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says fielding a battery of kickers is becoming essential in top-flight rugby.

New Zealand booted France off the park 30-0 in the second-Test win in Christchurch, celebrating their 500th Test in style and sealing the series with a game to spare.

Identified as a shortcoming in the less-impressive 23-13 win at Auckland a week earlier, Hansen said a focus on kicking into space in wet conditions paid dividends against opponents once again seeking trench warfare at the collision.

The leading teams in this year’s Super Rugby championship – the Chiefs, Bulls and Brumbies – have employed kicking for territory at the heart of their tactics.

Hansen said teams who make it a priority to keep the ball in hand are coming unstuck against flat defences which don’t commit many players to the breakdown.

“You’ve got to have a kicking arsenal. It’s about challenging the spaces out there.

“If your kicking game is good, you can do that and force them to take people out of that front line. Then you can attack as well.”

Fullback Israel Dagg kicked a prodigious 560m in total and received good support from halves Aaron Cruden and Aaron Smith, who both kicked for more than 300m.

Others chimed in, including burly inside centre Ma’a Nonu, whose deft chip created the opening try for winger Julian Savea.

“Ma’a was probably the surprise packet to most of you but we’ve known for a long time he has a pretty good boot,” Hansen said.

“Last night, he came of age as an inside centre because he displayed those skills. It takes a bit of pressure off the 10 (Cruden).”

Another standout All Blacks facet was their defence, frustrating the visitors when they laid siege in attack. Turnovers twice resulted in sweeping counter-attack tries to Ben Smith and Beauden Barrett.

Captain Keiran Read said those episodes gave his team confidence.

“When they tried to run at us, it felt like, if we defended really well, they weren’t going to break us.”

A 13th successive All Blacks win in Christchurch, dating back to 1998, was followed by a warning from Hansen to remain grounded ahead of the third Test in New Plymouth on Saturday.

Lock Sam Whitelock (elbow) and No.8 Read (back) both suffered painful knocks but are likely to be available for selection, along with veteran five-eighth Dan Carter (hand), who hasn’t played in this series.

Hansen says he is prepared to take selection “risks” for the third Test as the series has been won.