The Rugby Championship teams and others were in their third week of test matches in Europe.
New Zealand was playing Wales at the Millennium Stadium before getting on the plane to go home; South Africa was in Padua to build on their Twickenham victory, against Italy; Argentina was playing a resurgent France in Paris; and Australia was in Dublin to meet Ireland, the form European team this November and the Six Nations Champions – see separate report
Jamie Roberts – one of the best for Wales
New Zealand 34 – Wales 16
by “Bardon”
Wales came into this one on the pack of a struggling performance against Fiji that saw them just clinch the win. New Zealand were looking to move on quickly from the misfiring experimental side that beat Scotland. With the regulars back and Richie McCaw bring up a tonne of tests as captain there was motivation a plenty for both sides.
First Half
A bursting run from Roberts got Wales some go forward in the New Zealand 22. From the next phase the All Blacks infringed at the breakdown and Halfpenny opened the scoring from the tee after, 3-0 after 6 minutes.
Wales applied plenty of pressure on New Zealand for the first 20 minutes but Halfpenny’s sole effort from the tee was all they had to show for their efforts.
With both Barrett and Williams not at their best the All Blacks struggled to make inroads in Welsh territory. One thing that was going well for New Zealand was their scrum and when Wales were pinged just inside their own half Barrett stepped up to score from his second kick at the posts and tie it up at 3-3.
Wales had plenty of possession and territory in the first half but New Zealand backed their defence and waited for errors from the Welsh. Defence was really on top for the first 40 with Wales showing great line speed and being very aggressive in the hit and forcing errors from New Zealand.
Julian Savea – too hard to handle for Wales
Second Half
Within to minutes of the restart New Zealand were ahead. A fantastic improvised pass from Conrad Smith set Savea on his way from ten metres out. Barrett added the extras from out wide to make it 3-10.
Wales responded immediately when Webb and Faletau combined brilliantly for the scrumhalf to score under the posts. Halfpenny converted for 10-10. After no tries in the first 40 there were two in the first five minutes of the second half.
When Whitelock was penalised for not rolling away Halfpenny put Wales into the lead 13-10 after 52 minutes.
At 60 minutes both sides wrung the changes and New Zealand unleashed one of the biggest weapons in test rugby, the depth of their playing talent. As Wales began to tire much of the play was in their half.
When Dane Coles put McCaw away with 15 minutes remaining it looked like a certain try but Wales did well to bring him down just short. The All Blacks weren’t to be denied as a cross-field kick to Conrad Smith allowed them to exploit Wales’ lack of numbers. Kaino scored but the conversion missed 13-15.
McCaw was then pinged for side entry and Halfpenny obliged to give Wales the narrowest of leads at 16-15 with twelve minutes to go. All of Wales were starting to believe it could happen.
Barrett then dinked over the Welsh defence, Halfpenny beaten by the bounce of the ball, collected and had a clear run under the posts. Slade added the extra for 16-22.
Beauden Barrett – dinked ball over, regathered and scored
In typical New Zealand fashion then then pulled away at the end. When Philips was charged down Read had a simple pick up and dive over the line to score in the corner 16-29.
That was enough time for the All Blacks to add another try through Barrett who profited from Ben Smith’s tap down of Slade’s cross-field kick. Slade missed the conversion 16-34 and that’s how it finished.
Final Score: Wales 16 New Zealand 34
Brodie Retallick – didn’t have it all his own way against Alun-Wyn Jones and mates
New Zealand had the nudge in the scrum while World Rugby Player of the Year Brodie Retallick didn’t have it all his own way as Wyn Jones & co. did with both sides stealing some ball in a hotly contested lineout battle.
Wales showed they can live with the best for 65 minutes but they’ll need an 80 minute performance if they’re going to claim that elusive win against a Southern Hemisphere giant when they play South Africa next week. Fiji aside, the performances so far this test window will have pleased the Welsh but they need to deliver the results to go with it.
Normal service resumed for New Zealand. They were a bit scrappy in the first half their superior fitness and the quality of their bench allowed them to come through and win comfortably in the end. Another tough run out for them but they proved once again why they’re number 1 in the world.
Leigh Halfpenny – tackled in the air by unknown All Black
The Players
Wales: 1. P. James, 2. R. Hibbard, 3. S. Lee, 4. J. Ball, 5. A. Wyn Jones, 6. D. Lydiate, 7. S. Warburton (c), 8. T. Faletau, 9. R. Webb, 10. D. Biggar, 11. G. North, 12. J. Roberts, 13. J. Davies, 14. A. Cuthbert, 15. L. Halfpenny.
Reserves: 16. S. Baldwin, 17. N. Smith, 18. R. Jones, 19. L. Charteris, 20. J. Tipuric, 21. M. Phillips, 22. J. Hook, 23. L. Williams.
New Zealand: 1. W. Crockett, 2. D. Coles, 3. O. Franks, 4. B. Retallick, 5. S. Whitelock, 6. J. Kaino, 7. R. McCaw (c), 8. K. Read, 9. A. Smith, 10. B. Barrett, 11. J. Savea, 12. SB Williams, 13. C. Smith, 14. C. Piutau, 15. B. Smith.
Reserves: 17. K. Mealamu, 18. J. Moody, 19. C. Faumuina, 20. P. Tuipulotu, 21. L. Messam, 22. TJ Perenara, 22. C. Slade, 23. R. Crotty.
The Scoring
Wales 16: (Webb try; Halfpenny 1 con, 3 pens)
New Zealand 34: (Savea, Kaino, Barrett 2, Read tries; Barrett 1 con, 1 pen; Slade 2 cons)
See next page for Italy v. South Africa
