Tom Rogers became the first Wales player to score a hat-trick against the All Blacks as the hosts matched the visitors blow-for-blow for the first 50 minutes. However, Scott Robertson’s men had too much quality on the bench and stretched their legs to bag a 52-26 win and finish their thrilling Quilter Nations Series campaign on a winning note.
Wales still have South Africa to face but will be buoyed by their performance, and especially their attacking quality inside the 22, even though New Zealand pulled clear to score more than 50 points for the third consecutive match in Cardiff.
Robertson had spoken of the need to respond to last week’s defeat to England, and his team certainly took the message to heart. After working their way into the 22, the All Blacks cut through Wales’ defence like a hot knife through butter as Ruben Love’s flat pass put Caleb Clarke over for the first try inside four minutes.
Considering New Zealand have scored 54 and 55 points on their last two visits to Principality Stadium, Wales fans could be forgiven for fearing the worst. But their team hit back with a sensational try that took the roof off. Louis Rees-Zammit beat Damian McKenzie to a high ball on the edge of the 22 and Wales took advantage of space to the left, going through the hands until Dan Edwards produced a brilliant backhanded offload for Rogers to scoop up and dot down.
McKenzie restored New Zealand’s lead two minutes later with a simple penalty after Taine Plumtree was caught off his feet but Wales were arguably more threatening, and nearly scored the next try when Rhys Carre powered through a gap from 10 metres but was turned over by Pasilo Tosi.
New Zealand regained control of the match and scored the next try just before the half-hour mark. From an attacking scrum, they went to full-back Love and he cut inside flanker Harri Deaves and sprinted in from 20 metres for his third Test try.
But in an absorbing first half, Wales kept up. With a penalty advantage inside the New Zealand 22, Tomos Williams dropped a clever kick in behind the visitors’ defence for Blair Murray to collect, and after going through the hands again, Rogers dived in for his second try of the match.
Fly-half Dan Edwards, who was excellent in the first half, landed the conversion to cut the gap to just three points but the All Blacks had the last laugh when Tamaiti Williams bulldozed his way over the line following a five-metre lineout to help his side into a 24-14 half-time lead.
True to form, Wales came roaring back straight after the break. Dafydd Jenkins charged down a McKenzie kick and the hosts went left again, with Joe Hawkins firing a superb pass straight into a charging Max Llewellyn, who released Rogers down the wing, and he again produced the business to become the plater to score a Wales hat-trick in more than two years.
New Zealand remained ruthless in attack and thought they scored a fourth try when Clarke powered through Llewellyn and Murray en route to the line, but the play was called back for a knock-on just before the re-start. Minutes later, Will Jordan also thought he scored from close-range but it was again ruled out when the TMO showed it had been held up. At the third of asking, they score a try that stood – as Rieko Ioane did brilliantly to twist past Edwards and ground the ball in the corner following a McKenzie cross-field kick. The conversion put the All Blacks 31-21 ahead in the 51st minute.
Wales’ task became harder in the 57th minute when replacement prop Gareth Thomas was sin-binned for persistent team penalties, and within a minute Sevu Reece scored the All Blacks’ fifth try with a diving finish in the corner after they went through the hands to the right.
Just as Edwards was set to return, Plumtree was sent to the bin a high tackle, ensuring Wales played 20 minutes with 14 men. New Zealand continued to cash in, with Reece side-stepping Jarrod Evans in the corner to score their sixth of the night.
Wales were far from done and finished strongly, as Rees-Zammit scored his first international try since returning to rugby from the NFL with a flying finish in the corner. But the All Blacks had the last laugh as Leicester Fainga'anuku broke through a Hawkins tackle and set up Clarke to run in unopposed and bring up 50 points.
⭐️ Quilter Player of the Match:
Wallace Sititi (NZ)
On responding to defeat last week: "We had a tough old week last week. We didn't get what we wanted in terms of a Grand Slam but we wanted to come here and put on a performance we can be proud of. We are happy with that, we will take that win. Credit to Wales, they showed up. Hopefully our fans back home enjoyed that one."
On playing Wales: "They are a strong outfit and we know whenever teams come here, they will always bring their best. Every Test match will get close and I am happy to pull it out in the end."
On criticism this season: "Bring it on. If anyone wants to criticise us, that is fair, that is their opinion. We believe in what we are doing, we are going to back ourselves every day."