For the second week in a Wales loss. This encounter finished with a 52-26 scoreline, for those who didn't watch, it may appear as simply another in their long list defeats against the All Blacks, which now stretches back 34 encounters over seven decades.
However, it's also plausible, for those who coached it competing, for the tens of thousands in attendance, and viewers worldwide watching on TV, it might eventually be seen to symbolize a deeper importance than just a loss. They didn't quite make, a corner, but they took a brief glimpse into the future and got a glimpse of upcoming seasons might look like under Steve Tandy's guidance leading the side.
Repeatedly, New Zealand extended their lead crossing the line, initially early in the match, and each time the Welsh managed to haul to reduce the deficit back into the match by scoring one of their own right back.
They were all finished by Tom Rogers the Welsh flyer, making him the inaugural Welsh player to notch three tries versus the All Blacks. Yet the credit just as much to his teammates, notably scrum-half Williams, who made one with a tricky grubber kick, Louis Rees-Zammit, providing an assist with a superb catch, and Hawkins, who set up the last with a precise lengthy pass.
Five minutes into the latter period, they were separated by three points, with just a single kick by Damian McKenzie dividing the sides. A pair of the All Blacks' scores were the result of lineouts, one a simple touchdown by Clarke, and a more routine score from the forward following a forward push. Another try was an impressive effort by Ruben Love, darting through an opening with the help of deception and agility, and raced 30 metres to touch down.
Match Summary
- Welsh Side 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 penalties for infringements
- Touchdowns three from Rogers, one from Rees-Zammit
- Extras Evans 3
- All Blacks 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
- Kicks McKenzie 7
- Three points a penalty goal
Match official Hollie Davidson from England
Crowd 68,388
Around this time that New Zealand slipped into top form. They notched three scores in 10 minutes. Two didn't count, for a forward pass, another after replays indicated Rogers had just managed to hold the ball up. But the third, originally disallowed because the referee believed there was a mistake from a kick across, was confirmed to Rieko Ioane following television review.
From then on, things started to unravel. Initially, the prop was dispatched to the sin-bin, when he returned, Plumtree also left.
They notched additional tries in the final quarter, two by the winger. However, Wales managed to pull another back independently, thanks to brilliant efforts by the fullback and Louis Rees-Zammit. The stadium came alive at that point, even though their team was trailing, they took pride to have something to shout about, and a glimpse of early indications of progress facing one of the world’s best teams.
