Pint-sized All Blacks star wows world rugby with hat-trick

Aaron Smith scored almost as many points as Italy on his own in New Zealand's near-record win in their Rugby World Cup pool match.

Before half-time, the pint-sized scrum half had three tries to his name in what was a remarkably one-sided match.

The first of those was a rather bizarre effort when Smith scored off the back of a rolling maul in the 17th minute.

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In the 27th minute, another driving maul opened the door for Cody Taylor to off-load the ball to Smith on the short side.

He ducked and weaved through the Italian defence, beating two opposition players before diving over the try line.

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The third try (below) was a more conventional effort after Jordie Barrett pierced a gap in the defensive line before passing to Smith for his third.

Italy were soundly out-classed, but there were flashes of brilliance.

The Azzurri finally broke through in the 48th minute thanks to Ange Capuozzo.

Italy went from one side of the field to the other off the back of a scrum, finding clear air for the winger to touch down.

The only other try for Italy came at the death when Monty Ioane broke the New Zealand defence and just scraped in (above).

It was millimetre-perfect stuff from the Australian-born winger, whose leg only just stayed in the field of play as he grounded the ball.

New Zealand have one more pool match against Uruguay on October 6 while Italy will conclude their campaign against France a day later on October 7.