Welsh dreams are blown to dust by All Blacks shooting star called loane
WOULD this be something special, the day that Wales broke the 64 year hoodoo since they last defeated New Zealand way back in 1953, the year that the Queen – who is the world’s oldest head of state – had her coronation?
Not quite, but there was a coronation of sorts, with Rieko Ioane, the 20-year-old New Zealand wing announcing himself as the next All Black superstar with two tries in the final quarter which ripped the match away from a spirited Welsh side.
This is Ioane’s first season of Test rugby, and he has now scored 11 tries, including leaving his calling card with the Lions this summer.
His amalgam of pace, power and balance, which he maximises with great timing coming onto the ball, made the difference here, helping a New Zealand side blooding their reserve stocks to lift the tempo to take the game away from a Welsh side that denied them traction for most of the first half.
The visitors, who outscored Wales five tries to two, went into the secondhalf nursing a 12-11 lead, but it did not take long for Ioane to make the first inroads after the interval, suckingin three Welsh tacklers before flicking the ball back for Anton Lienert-Brown to go over unopposed.
Just after the hour Ioane struck again, this time reading Dan Biggar’s pass from a mile off to intercept and canter over, giving New Zealand a commanding 26-11 advantage.
Although Wales rallied, with scrum-half Gareth Davies darting over from a scrum after All Black captain Sam Whitelock had been sin-binned for killing the ball, and Leigh Halfpenny converting to make it 26-18, Ioane immediately snuffed out the scent of hope.
His accomplices were Damian McKenzie and TJ Perenara, with the replacement scrum-half ’s deft short pass, sending Ioane spearing through the Welsh midfield to power through Amos’ tackle to give New Zealand not only their winning margin, but another undefeated Autumn tour.
Wales are not renowned for making quick starts, but they did so here to rock New Zealand back on their heels from the kick-off after Naholo missed a Rhys Webb box-kick.
The home side had a chance to steal a march as early as the third minute when a poor pass by Sonny Bill Williams saw Dan Biggar hack through.
The Welsh fly-half was unlucky that it was his opposite number, Beauden Barrett, sweeping for the All Blacks, because of his exceptional acceleration. Barrett won the chase, scooping the ball up after it hit the upright, and grounding it to concede the five metre scrum.
When Wales kept the pressure on, with Faletau and Navidi making yardage in the New Zealand 22, another error from Williams – this time offside at a ruck – saw a Leigh Halfpenny penalty put Wales 3-0 ahead. They paid a price, however, when Webb was forced off for a head assessment and did not return.
If the All Blacks were shaken by being denied field position and ball for the first ten minutes there were few signs of it when Welsh intensity dropped off for the first time – as did their tackling.
The main offender was Steff Evans, with the Scarlets wing giving Rieko Ioane a free ticket up the middle and, when the rangy wing linked with Aaron Smith, the scrumhalf cut inside before firing the ball wide to Naholo.
The Fijian-born wing still had work to do, but he is a ball of muscle and held off an attempt by Evans to redeem himself with a cover tackle, riding it while dotting the ball down onehanded in the corner.
Barrett converted from the touchline to make it 7-3, leaving Wales to reflect on how they had undone their strong start by conceding the softest of tries. However, they showed tenacity and resilience to go back on the offensive, led by Josh Navidi.
The Cardiff openside’s first intervention was a half-break soon after lock Jake Ball had been forced off with a shoulder injury. His pass out of the tackle saw Taulupe Faletau came within a whisker of scoring, with Sam Cane saving New Zealand by jarring the ball from the No.8’s grasp as he crossed the line.
Navidi was a stone in the Kiwi boot throughout this tussle, and his clean break deep into the All Black 22 after handing off Codie Taylor just before the halfhour had the visitors scrambling to plug the gaps.
A Welsh try looked on as Alun Wyn Jones found Halfpenny, with the fullback moving the ball on to Hallam Amos with New Zealand short of numbers – but the chance went begging when the wing spilled the ball.
However, with Wales virtually monopolising possession and territory – a remarkable 81 per cent possession and 89 per cent territory after half an hour – they got a foothold when Halfpenny kicked a second penalty after Steff Evans was obstructed to cut the deficit to 7-6.
New Zealand’s answer was to score again with their second serious foray into the Welsh 22 yielding a second try for Naholo. From a tap-penalty Sonny Bill Williams carried strongly to within a few metres of the Welsh line and a flat miss-pass by Smith saw Naholo touchdown in the corner despite
a solid Halfpenny tackle.
Barrett could not add the extras from the touchline, but any thought that New Zealand would take their 12-6 lead into the break was banished when the Welsh responded with a cracking try.
It started with line-out ball being moved sweetly from Davies to Owen Williams, and when he passed deep to Biggar the fly-half popped a pass which sent Amos racing through the gap the change of angles created.
With Biggar getting up to take the return pass New Zealand were shredded, and the fly-half’s pass saw Scott Williams surge over to celebrate his 50th cap in style.
Although Halfpenny missed the conversion from wide out, at only 12-11 adrift at half-time Wales had shown they had the flair to live with the world champions.
That they were unable to sustain it was due in large part to the strike running of Rieko Ioane, a shooting star that All Black coach Steve Hansen had every reason to salute afterwards as “a very special player”.