New Zealand had been playing catch-up after their first-ever pool stage defeat to hosts France in the opening match of the tournament, but a second big win in succession after their 71-3 hammering of Namibia has them firmly in the driving seat for a place in the quarter-finals.

It was the All Blacks' biggest win at a Rugby World Cup since their 108-13 victory against Portugal in 2007, a match also held in Lyon at the Stade de Gerland.

The Parc Olympique Lyonnais, opened in 2016, is the third-biggest venue at this year's tournament in France, and was the setting for New Zealand's comprehensive victory in which they notched 14 tries, 13 of which were converted.

Will Jordan latched onto a kick to open the scoring with a seventh-minute try, from which Richie Mo'unga produced the first of his nine conversions to give his team a 7-0 lead.

Jordan would go on to add another try with 10 minutes remaining.

Smith grabbed a first-half hat-trick with tries on 17, 27 and 34 minutes, while Ardie Savea crossed the whitewash twice before the break in the 22^nd minute and fifth minute of additional time, the first of which made sure of the bonus point for his team.

Mark Telea also scored a first-half try for New Zealand, with the only Italian reply an early penalty from Tommaso Allan which made the score 49-3 at half-time.

Italy grabbed the first try of the second half courtesy of Ange Capuozzo, converted by Allan, but continued to be ruthlessly picked off by a New Zealand side firmly in the groove.

Brodie Retallick, Dalton Papalii, Damian McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown each scored one try in the second half for New Zealand, and Dane Coles two, with McKenzie successful with all four of his conversions.

New Zealand just missed out on the century mark, and Italy grabbed the game's final try through Monty Ioane converted by Paolo Garbisi, but they leapfrogged their opponents into second place in Pool A.

Both teams have 10 points, but New Zealand boast the far superior points difference.

New Zealand's final Pool A match is against Uruguay in Lyon on Thursday (October 5) in which a win will effectively seal their quarter-final place, before Italy take on the hosts France at the same venue the following day.

Third place in each of the pools provides the consolation of an automatic place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, and Italy lead fourth-placed Uruguay by five points going into the final round of fixtures.

Three matches are scheduled tomorrow at the Rugby World Cup, with Argentina playing Chile in Nantes in Pool D, Fiji facing Georgia in Bordeaux in Pool C and Scotland playing Romania in Lille in Pool B.