Gatland’s men left with a mountain to climb as wait goes on
WALES may never get a better chance of beating an error-strewn New Zealand side there for the taking than this. But they weren’t quite good enough to take advantage and fell to their 27th defeat in a row to the All Blacks since defeating them 13-8 at Cardiff Arms Park 63 years ago.
The Welsh effort couldn’t be faulted, but they only stayed in the game for an hour through a mixture of sheer doggedness and the high number of mistakes racked up by their opponents.
It was 21-18 to Warren Gatland’s side with 18 minutes remaining, but they conceded three tries to lose 39-21.
Some people will say the All Blacks were fitter, but the real reason they took control and pulled away was because the passes began to stick and the error count dropped.
Now the danger is Steve Hansen’s men will flourish as the threeTest series continues and run away with it.
It was their first Test since lifting the World Cup last October and, although they had nine of the starters who beat Australia during a gripping final at Twickenham, they were without leaders Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.
They certainly missed the presence and nous of McCaw, Carter and Nonu, but Smith’s successor Malakai Fekitoa was easily the All Blacks’ most dangerous attacker.
And new captain Kieran Read stepped up to the plate in the second half, grabbing the game by the scruff of its neck and getting his men going forward.
The fear in New Zealand before- hand was they would be rusty and slow-starting because that’s what has been the case in recent years.
But, in the end, they touched down five times after managing to overcome their defensive deficiencies that had bordered on the incredible in the first half with wings Julain Savea and Waisake Naholo both missing a number of tackles.
Wales scored twice before the break with No.8 Taulupe Faletau ploughing over in the corner on the overlap and scrum-half Rhys Webb turning up in support of a stunning counter-attack from sensational full-back Liam Williams to score.
Dan Biggar landed a conversion and three penalties for an 11-point haul, but the fact of the matter is they failed to add a point in the final 29 minutes while conceding 21.
Wales played some pleasing rugby on the eye during the first half with centre Jamie Roberts surprisingly throwing some long passes, which you don’t see very often.
It was a sign they wanted to play a wider game, but it petered out as the clock ticked and possession began to dry up.
Individually, as All Blacks wing great John Kirwan stressed later, George North probably had his best match for a few years.
He’s far more effective on the right-wing for the simple reason it’s much easier for the scrum-half to work the ball in that direction when it’s the blindside.
North was beating defenders, often in broken play, and his work could have brought more reward.
Webb put in another solid shift while his half-back partner Biggar was effective and as brave as ever while also getting the back-line going.
Outside-centre Jonathan Davies had his moments, while young left-winger Hallam Amos blew hot and cold.
The scrum was solid and the line-out held up until the final quarter. Hooker Ken Owens did well, while veteran prop Gethin Jenkins had a decent performance, but it wasn’t enough to come up with a first victory over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, which would have made Alun Wyn Jones’ 100th cap for Wales an unforgettable occasion.
Wales twice conceded tries during a damaging three-minute spell in the first half to trail 15-5, but back-to-back penalties from Biggar clawed a way back into it.
And when Webb dived over in the 31st minute they were back in front. It was obvious New Zealand would be fired up at the start of the second half, but Wales weathered that storm to be three points ahead.
But a combination of them losing their way and New Zealand getting their game together meant it was largely one-way traffic from then on.
The final score may have flattered the All Blacks a bit, but the worry for me is they will be much improved in Wellington next weekend.
I thought Wales had a real chance of making history at Eden Park, but it wasn’t to be and they now have a mountain to climb to get back into this series.