The All Blacks, under pressure to respond to their deflating defeat to England which sank their Grand Slam dream, have beaten Wales 52-26 in Cardiff this morning.
The scoreline is decisive but the All Blacks’ performance was less so until the final quarter when they took advantage of yellow cards for Wales replacement prop Gareth Thomas and loose forward Taine Plumtree.
The All Blacks scored seven tries – all converted by No.10 Damian McKenzie – to Wales’ four, with left wing Tom Rogers scoring a hat-trick for the home side and right wing Louis Rees-Zammit scoring a late consolation try with a neat finish in the right corner.
Until their late flurry the All Blacks, who enjoyed a 100% success rate in their set piece and played with far greater discipline than their opponents, struggled to break free from a side that entered the match as huge underdogs.
Wales, who have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953 and last weekend secured their first win at home in two years when edging Japan thanks to a late penalty, had been hard hit by injury in the lead-up to the Test but played with an efficiency on attack which troubled the visitors.
Rogers’ tries allowed his side to hit back to get to within three points on three occasions, with the All Blacks only pulling away after 52 minutes when Rieko Ioane, in a rare start at centre, did well to wriggle past Wales No.10 Dan Edwards.
Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love and Tamaiti Williams had earlier crossed the line for the All Blacks – left wing Clarke with a powerful finish, fullback Love thanks to his right-foot step and acceleration, and prop Williams with a determined charge close to the line.
But, a combination of Wales’ grit and attacking flair in front of a capacity crowd under the roof at Principality Stadium, and familiar issues with the All Blacks’ transition defence, contrived to keep the Test tighter than most expected and the visitors’ 24-14 halftime lead was quickly whittled away by Rogers’ third try after the break.
All Blacks fullback Love, who had a kick charged down earlier in the movement, rushed up too quickly on defence which provide the space for Rogers to finish.
It would not be a modern Test without some significant interventions from the television match official and the latest was the ruling out of tries for Clarke and, quickly afterwards, Jordan.
Clarke, impressive on attack this morning but who was troubled by Rees-Zammit’s pace when defending, powered through two would-be defenders for a try converted by McKenzie only for referee Hollie Davidson, the first woman to take charge of an All Blacks’ Test, to be alerted by the TMO to a potential knock-on.
Replays showed flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi lost the ball in a ruck in the build-up in an incident Wales were penalised for and, from the resulting attacking lineout, Jordan powered through traffic to score a try which was also ruled out, the right wing adjudged to have been held up.
Fortunately for the All Blacks, Ioane’s try in the right corner was decisive and brilliantly converted by McKenzie.
The score gave the All Blacks some breathing room, and with Edwards yellow carded for a no-arms tackle, and the visitors’ reserves providing impact – especially midfielder Leicester Fainga’anuku and right wing Sevu Reece – there was no way back for the home side.
The New Zealand-born Plumtree was the next to see yellow for a high tackle on Jordan, with Reece cashing in with two tries.
Clarke’s second try, and the All Blacks’ last, was one of their best, a Fainga’anuku break and one-handed offload capitalised on by Ioane’s assist for Clarke to go over.
The All Blacks’ late flourish in their final Test of the year put some gloss on a solid performance which, in keeping with their year, was not entirely convincing.
They again struggled at times on defence and, with No.10 McKenzie standing flat to the line but then deep and kicking when running out of ideas, the All Blacks often struggled to unlock a defence they should have challenged more in the first half.
There were some standout performances, however. Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho took his opportunity as did No.8 Wallace Sititi. Both were busy and threats with the ball and the former should take credit for his side's set piece supremacy.
Jordan’s workrate and game awareness made him the All Blacks’ best back.
All Blacks 52 (Caleb Clarke 2, Sevu Reece 2, Ruben Love, Tamaiti Williams, Rieko Ioane tries; Damian McKenzie 7 cons, pen)
Wales 26 (Tom Rogers 3, Louis Rees-Zammit tries; Dan Edwards 3 pens)
Halftime: 24-14
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