How they rated
15. JOHNNY MCNICHOLL
A long wait between drinks, with McNicholl not having played a Test before this one for close on a year, but he had his moments in attack, with the Scarlet not being afraid to run out of defence. Occasional lapse in defence, though, and threw an intercept pass that Beauden Barrett made the most of late on.
14. OWEN LANE
Had never won in four previous Test outings and it always seemed unlikely his record would improve here. That said, there were a few bright moments, including a run out of defence and a nicely executed kick and chase. In the debit column, he was all over the place when Sevu Reece scored.
13. JONATHAN DAVIES
Took over the armband after Alun Wyn Jones’ early exit. There were a couple of solid runs, but nothing game-changing.
12. JOHNNY WILLIAMS
Test rugby isn’t always this tough. Williams scored a try but coughed up an early penalty, was then smashed by Anton Lienert-Brown, with the New Zealand backs on a different level.
11. JOSH ADAMS
A lot of hard work around the field which Adams should be commended for, but it takes much, much more to beat New Zealand.
10. GARETH ANSCOMBE
Calamitous start saw a pass intercepted by Beauden Barrett as the Kiwi No. 10 raced clear for an early try. Anscombe settled thereafter, but it was a big ask for him to face New Zealand after just three proper games since returning from injury. Subbed on 47 minutes.
9. TOMOS WILLIAMS
Passed accurately and there were also a couple of eye-catching steps, but he missed Will Jordan at one point and was powerless as the All Blacks wing scorched through the Welsh defence for a try.
STAR MAN: 7. TAINE BASHAM
Won Wales three points within seven minutes of the start with a turnover followed up by another possession steal near the half-hour mark. The 21-year-old also ripped through the cover with a carry. He did miss a few too many tackles as he tired, but this was seriously encouraging.
REPLACEMENTS
Will Rowlands: Good tackling effort, a couple of nice carries; couldn’t do anything to stop Jordan slicing through. 6
Seb Davies: Busy and looked to handle, but there were also missed tackles. 5
Rhys Priestland: Set up try with lovely kick through, tried to spark Wales. 7
Rhys Carre: Involved in build-up to Johnny Williams try, conceded penalty that led to New Zealand try, occasional scrum wobble. 5
Dillon Lewis: Part of a creaky scrum, not too many positives. 5
Ben Thomas: Risky pass, hammered back behind the gainline. 4
Kirby Myhill: Missed three of his six tackles. 4
Gareth Davies: Couldn’t impact the game in any significant way. 4.
NEW ZEALAND 1. WYN JONES
Made 10 tackles in the opening 25 minutes. For the avoidance of doubt, that’s impressive. Also conceded two scrum penalties, though, one of which should ensure referee Mathieu Raynal misses out on a Christmas card from the Jones household this year.
2. RYAN ELIAS
Steady Elias worked hard and made ground as a carrier. Not-so-clever Elias missed his targets at key line-outs and also missed a tackle in run-up to TJ Perenara’s try. He has to improve his throwing at this level.
3. TOMAS FRANCIS
Solid in the scrums and steady around the field, with the tighthead putting in eight tackles. Room to go up another gear, though.
4. ADAM BEARD
While he stepped up with some decent line-out takes, he couldn’t exert a major influence on the match. He won’t find many better opponents than Whitelock and Retallick, mind.
5. ALUN WYN JONES
A world-record 149th appearance for one country. It should have been cause for celebration but Jones lasted just 19 minutes before exiting with a damaged left shoulder after a tackle on Jordie Barrett went wrong. He had looked up for it.
6. ROSS MORIARTY
In the thick of the defensive effort with 12 tackles in 39 minutes and refused to let Retallick take liberties in one skirmish near halfway. Hugely physical but invalided out of the action after being on the wrong end of a dodgy double hit which saw Laulala yellow-carded.
8. AARON WAINWRIGHT
Showed real adventure by triggering a bold counterattack from 90 metres, while the Dragon also fronted up in defence, crowning a hard-working effort with some try-saving covering late on.
J Barrett, Jordan, Liernert-Brown, Havili, R Ioane, B Barrett,Perenara (Weber 63), Moody, Taylor (Taukeiaho 63), Laulala, Retallick (Vaa’i 60), Whitelock, Blackadder (Lomax 41), Papali’i, Savea. Reps Not Used: Tuinukuafe, A Ioane, Mo’unga, Reece.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France).