WALES TO NEW ZEALAND, 1988

This was a train crash of a tour and one that did plenty to destroy the reputation of Wales as a credible All Blacks rival. They were unable to compete with the provincial teams they met – being beaten heavily by Waikato, Wellington and North Auckland.

And they lost because they weren’t fit enough or skilled enough. They looked soft and lumbering and nowhere near well enough equipped to cope with the relentless physicality and speed of the game in New Zealand.

The test matches were a torrid a air for the visitors: they lost the first 52-3 and the second 54-9. But it was the way the All Blacks destroyed them physically that everyone remembers.

Wales stopped tackling and many of their best players just didn’t want to be there. They didn’t have the heart to stand up for themselves and they were a shambles by the second test.

One of the only men to enhance his reputation was 21-year-old rookie flanker David Bryant, who would say many years later: “My lasting memory of the tour was I would come o at the end of the game and they would take out the stitches I’d had the week before and put stitches in new wounds.

“I was in the Saturday team and had 28 stitches in the head during the course of that tour. New Zealand used to wear those rugby league studs which ripped your skin and I had scars on my back which didn’t heal for about a year.

“I had to use antibiotic cream and all sort of things before they finally healed. It was an incredible experience but I made it to the bitter end.”