Once again, a Welsh defeat. This encounter finished by 26 points, for those who didn't watch, it may appear as just another among their many defeats versus New Zealand, a streak that extends 34 encounters since 1953.
But it’s just possible, too, for those in charge and played in it, for the tens of thousands in the ground, and viewers worldwide tuning in remotely, it might eventually be seen to stand for a greater meaning beyond the scoreline. Wales did not turn, a corner, but they took a little look around one and caught a sight of upcoming seasons might look like with Steve Tandy in charge.
Three times, the visitors stretched ahead by scoring a try, the first of them early in the match, and three times Wales fought back to close the gap into the things with a try a try themselves almost straight away.
Each try was completed by the wing from Scarlets Tom Rogers, who became the inaugural Welsh player to score a hat-trick versus the All Blacks. But they belonged just as much to his teammates, especially scrum-half Williams, who made one with a skillful grubber kick, Rees-Zammit, providing an assist with an excellent reception, and the center, who set up the last with a fine lengthy pass.
At the start of the second half, they were separated by three points, separated by a sole penalty by Damian McKenzie dividing the sides. A pair of the All Blacks' three tries originated from throws, one a simple finish by Clarke, the other an even simpler one by the forward following a maul. The third came from a brilliant finish by Ruben Love, darting through a defensive hole with the help of a feint and a sidestep, and raced 30 metres to score.
Key Details
- Home Team Murray; Rees-Zammit, Llewellyn, Hawkins, Rogers (Tompkins 55); Edwards (Evans 68), Williams (Hardy 68); Carré (G Thomas 52), Lake (Coghlan 76), Assiratti (Griffin 52), Jenkins, Beard (F Thomas 70), Mann, Deaves (Morse 68), Plumtree
- Sin-bins Thomas 58, Plumtree 68
- Tries multiple tries from the wings
- Extras Evans 3
- Visiting Team Love (Reece 55); Jordan, Ioane, Lienert-Brown (Fainga’anuku 68), Clarke; McKenzie, Ratima (Christie 55); Williams (Bower 55), Taukei’aho (Bell 65), Tosi (Newell 55), Barrett, Holland (Lord 64), Parker, Kirifi (Lio-Willie 68), Sititi
- Touchdowns a variety of try-scorers
- Conversions seven successful kicks
- Penalty kick a penalty goal
Match official Hollie Davidson (Eng)
Spectators 68,388
Around this time that the visitors entered top form. They added three touchdowns within ten minutes. Two were ruled out, due to a knock-on, another after replays indicated Rogers had just managed to prevent the score. Yet the next one, which wasn’t awarded since the ref suspected there had been a knock-on off a cross-field kick, was given to the center following television review.
From then on, the match to fall apart. Initially, Gareth Thomas was dispatched a yellow card, and as he reentered, the flanker was also binned.
The All Blacks added another three in the final quarter, including two from Reece. However, Wales managed to respond once more on their own, after some superb work by Blair Murray and the wing. The crowd erupted at that point, despite the fact they were behind, they took pride to have something to applaud, and a view of early indications of improvement against one of the world’s best teams.
