Wales’ long wait for a win against New Zealand goes on as they were brushed aside by a rampant All Blacks side this afternoon.
There were eight tries from the Kiwis, who were inspired by their outstanding No. 8 Ardie Savea.
Wales managed touchdowns from Rio Dyer and skipper Justin Tipuric, but they blown away in contact and nowhere near as clinical as their opponents.
Every time the All Blacks entered the Welsh 22, they seemed to return with points.
Mark Orders hands out the player ratings.
Gareth Anscombe 5
Missed an early ball in the air and saw Papali’i surge past him in the preamble to New Zealand’s opening try. Goal-kicks went over, but Anscombe failed to make the most of a charge down, ignoring the supporting Rio Dyer and finding himself hauled down by Richie Mo’unga.
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Louis Rees-Zammit 5
Giving this guy the ball in open space is like giving Dracula the keys to the blood bank.
The trouble is, Wales couldn’t bring him into play often enough.
To crown a frustrating afternoon, he was left for dead by Aaron Smith as the scrum-half crossed.
George North 6
A busy opening saw North look for ball and carry hard when possession came his way. Like so many of his team-mates, though, he couldn’t find a winning card.
Nick Tompkins 7
Played his heart out as always. Beautiful pass for Rio Dyer’s try, then hauled down Jordie Barrett in full-flight before finding a gap in the home cover.
Rio Dyer 6
A Test debut against the All Blacks is not so much a case of being thrown in at the deep end as being plonked into the North Sea on a particularly stormy night. But Dyer started well, chasing hard from kickoffs and making a nuisance of himself. Took his try nicely, too.
Jordie Barrett out-jumped him for All Blacks try, but at 6ft 5in, the Kiwi was always favourite for that one.
Overall, a decent debut.
Rhys Priestland 5
A late inclusion in the side after Leigh Halfpenny pulled out and Anscombe went to full-back.
But there was a hurricane blowing the other way and Priestland was powerless to do much about it and couldn’t pose an attacking threat.
Tomos Williams 6
Up against a scrum-half master, and it showed early on as Aaron Smith troubled Williams at the base of a couple of scrums. There was some spark from the Welshman, though, with one run down the left a notable highlight.
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Gareth Thomas 4
Just 52 minutes of rugby in roughly four months is no way to prepare for a date with the All Blacks. Thomas stood up in defence, as always, but he shipped a couple of penalties and failed to carry as much as he would have wanted.
Ken Owens 7
Hadn’t played for Wales in 20 months and not long returned from injury, but Owens was the best Welsh forward before the break, denting the defence with trademark short charges and tackling uncompromisingly. Stayed on top his brief in the second-half, too, finishing with 16 tackles.
Tomas Francis 4
Might have found it easier trying to shove Ayers Rock back than scrummaging against the 6ft 3in, 21st Ethan De Groot.Francis worked hard in defence, though, piling up a dozen tackles in 40 minutes before leaving the field, but also lost the ball a couple of times as a carrier. Subbed at half-time.
Will Rowlands 5
Has been outstanding all year, but the All Blacks are always a step up and Rowlands couldn’t command matters. While effort wasn’t a problem, underlined by his vain attempt to deny Ardie Savea a try, he couldn’t get his carrying game going and knocked-on near the end.
Adam Beard 5
Not fantastically conspicuous in the 40 minutes he was on the field. Some solid defence and one good counter-ruck, but the tide was flowing the other way and Beard made way for Alun Wyn Jones for the second half.
Justin Tipuric 6
Bumped off by Papali’i in run-up to Taylor’s first try. It did get better, however, as the skipper came up with an important counter-ruck and then somehow kept control of the ball to claim a superbly taken try.
Twenty-five tackles point to a serious defensive shift.
Tommy Reffell 4
Not the dominant figure we saw in South Africa in the summer. There was a decent quota of tackles, but Reffell couldn’t impact the breakdown and was stepped by Smith as the scrum-half flamboyantly crossed.
Taulupe Faletau 7
There was more chance of Guy Fawkes being voted parliamentarian of the year in 1605 than of Faletau letting Wales down.
He led the way in defence with a gargantuan effort that involved 28 tackles.
There was also plenty of go-forward as he made more carries and metres than any other Wales forward.
Replacements
Alun Wyn Jones 5
Tackled well, didn’t shirk anything, but it was a lost cause.
Dillon Lewis 5
While he tried hard, there was the odd scrum issue.
Nicky Smith 5
Probably still wondering where Ardie Savea went with that dummy, otherwise good in defence.
Ryan Elias 5
Gave it a shot, no huge impact.
Christ Tshiunza 6
Lost a lineout, but he’s a player who’s going to be around for a long time and he had a go in defence.
Kieran Hardy 5
Couldn’t stop Jordie Barrett’s try.
Sam Costelow 5
One for the future, perhaps.
Owen Watkin 6
Went nicely against the grain with one run.
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