A Beauden Barrett-inspired New Zealand eased to a 54-16 victory against a Wales side who suffered first-half injuries to captain Alun Wyn Jones and Ross Moriarty.
The All Blacks scored seven tries in a brilliant performance, laying down a marker in the second game of the Autumn Nations Series ahead of fixtures against Italy, Ireland and France.
Wales’ sole try came from inside centre Johnny Williams but were still in touch at 61 minutes with the score 28-16 before the All Black’s phenomenal late flourish.
Barrett, on his 100th appearance for his country, was named man of the match and scored a brace of interceptions, including one from former New Zealand Under-20s teammate Gareth Anscombe’s pass after just three minutes to get the scoring underway.
The centurion’s blushes were spared a few minutes later when he knocked-on attempting a second intercept and escaped a yellow card, much to the frustration of the Welsh supporters.
Jones then went down midway through the first half with what looked like a repeat of the left shoulder injury he suffered before the British & Irish Lions tour.
The Welsh defence held firm despite the All-Blacks relentless attack and after half an hour the score was just 13-3, with prop Nepo Laulala having a try denied by the TMO.
Laulala was then sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Moriarty, with the Welsh back rower suffering a shoulder injury in the collision.
The All Blacks went into the break with an 18-6 lead after TJ Perenara crossed the whitewash, with Anscombe kicking two penalties on his return to international rugby.
It was in the second half where New Zealand really turned it on, scoring four tries, including a brilliant individual score from Will Jordan.
The winger received the ball from a kick, sprinted through a gap and chipped and chased over a helpless Josh Adams, taking his tally to 16 tries in 11 test matches.
Wales briefly hit back through Williams, with the Principality Stadium rocking for the first time since the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, to reduce the deficit to just 12 with 19 minutes left.
The cheers were short-lived however, as tries from David Papalii, Sevu Reece and Anton Lienert-Brown took the game away from a spirited Wales side, all three tries coming in just seven minutes as the Rugby Championship holders flexed their muscles.
Reece and Lienert-Brown’s scores in particular were everything Ian Foster’s men are all about, with sublime offloading from several players preceding finishes in the corner, as New Zealand once again raised eyebrows and returned to the top of the world rankings.
The game was book-ended by intercept tries from Barrett, his 38th and 39th scores for his country on the day he became a centurion, nine years on from his debut.
Wales host South Africa at the Principality Stadium next week and will be buoyed by the return of their Gallagher Premiership stars, while New Zealand head to Rome to face Italy full of confidence.
