How they rated
GARETH ANSCOMBE
Missed an early ball in the air and saw Papali’i surge past him in the preamble to
New Zealand’s opening try.
Goal kicks went over, but Anscombe failed to make the most of a chargedown, ignoring the supporting Rio Dyer and finding himself hauled down by Richie Mo’unga.
LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT
Giving this guy the ball in open space is like giving Dracula the keys to the blood bank. The trouble is, Wales couldn’t bring him into play often enough.
GEORGE NORTH
A busy opening saw North look for ball and carry hard when possession came his way. Like so many of his team-mates, though, he couldn’t find a winning card.
RIO DYER
A Test debut against the All Blacks is not so much a case of being thrown in at the deep end as being plonked into the North Sea on a particularly stormy night.
But Dyer started well, chasing hard from kick-offs and making a nuisance of himself. Took his try nicely, too.
RHYS PRIESTLAND
A late inclusion in the side after Leigh Halfpenny pulled out and Anscombe went to full-back.
TOMOS WILLIAMS
Up against a scrum-half master, and it showed early on as Aaron Smith troubled Williams at the base of a couple of scrums.
GARETH THOMAS
Just 52 minutes of rugby in roughly four months is no way to prepare for a date with the All Blacks.
KEN OWENS
Hadn’t played for Wales in 20 months and not long returned from injury, but
STAR MAN: NICK TOMPKINS
Played his heart out as always. Beautiful pass for Rio Dyer’s try, then hauled down Jordie Barrett in full flight before finding a gap in the home cover.
REPLACEMENTS
Alun Wyn Jones 5: Tackled well, didn’t shirk anything, but it was a lost cause. Dillon Lewis 5: While he tried hard, there was the odd scrum issue.
Nicky Smith 5: Probably still wondering where Ardie Savea went with that dummy, otherwise good in defence.
Ryan Elias 5: Gave it a shot, no huge impact.
Christ Tshiunza 6: Lost a lineout, but he’s a player who’s going to be around for a long time and he had a go in defence.
Kieran Hardy 5: Couldn’t stop Jordie Barrett’s try.
Sam Costelow 5: One for the future, perhaps.
Owen Watkin 6: Went nicely against the grain with one run.
NEW ZEALAND
Owens was the best Welsh forward before the break, denting the defence with trademark short charges and tackling uncompromisingly. Stayed on top his brief in the second half, too, finishing with 16 tackles.
TOMAS FRANCIS
Might have found it easier trying to shove Ayers Rock back than scrummaging against the 6ft 3in, 21st Ethan
De Groot. Francis worked hard in defence, though, piling up a dozen tackles in 40 minutes before leaving the field, but also lost the ball a couple of times as a carrier. Subbed at half-time.
WILL ROWLANDS
Has been outstanding all year, but the All Blacks are always a step up and Rowlands couldn’t command matters. While effort wasn’t a problem, he couldn’t get his carrying game going and knocked on near the end.
ADAM BEARD
Not fantastically conspicuous in the 40 minutes he was on the field. Some solid defence and one good counter-ruck, but the tide was flowing the other way and Beard made way for Alun Wyn Jones for the second half.
JUSTIN TIPURIC
Bumped off by Papali’i in run-up to Taylor’s first try. It did get better, however, as the skipper came up with an important counter-ruck and then somehow kept control of the ball to claim a superbly taken try.
TOMMY REFFELL
Not the dominant figure we saw in South Africa in the summer. There was a decent quota of tackles, but Reffell couldn’t impact the breakdown and was stepped by Smith as the scrum-half flamboyantly crossed.
TAULUPE FALETAU
There was more chance of Guy Fawkes being voted parliamentarian of the year in 1605 than of Faletau letting Wales down.
B Barrett; Reece, R Ioane, J Barrett, Clarke; Mo’unga, Smith; De Groot, Taylor, Lomax, Whitelock (capt), S Barrett, Frizell, Papali’i, Savea. Replacements: Taukei’aho, Tu’ungafasi, Newell, Vaa’i, A Ioane, Weber, Havili, Lienert-Brown.