All Blacks win with brutal last quarter

New Zealand, scoring four tries in a brutal final quarter, beat Wales 34-16 in Cardiff on Saturday to cement their No.1 ranking.

The teams were level 3-all at the half-time break and Wales held a slender 13-10 lead going into the final quarter.

Despite Wales reclaiming the lead (16-15) in the 68th minute, after a Jerome Kaino try gave the All Blacks the lead in the 64th minute, it became a procession.

Tries by Beauden Barrett (two) and Kieran Read showed why New Zealand is the world's top-ranked team – more often than not coming up trumps in the championship (final 10) minutes.

Barrett stepped into Dan Carter's boots with aplomb to help extend New Zealand's winning streak over Wales to 26 matches.

The World Cup champions have lost just once in two years, a two-point reverse to the Springboks in Johannesburg last month in a dead rubber after the All Blacks had wrapped up the Rugby Championship for a third successive season.

Julian Savea, Jerome Kaino, Barrett (2) and Kieran Read all crossed the whitewash, Barrett nailing a penalty and conversion and Colin Slade two more as the visitors piled up 24 points in the final 17 minutes against a flagging Welsh side.

Rhys Webb scored Wales' sole try, Leigh Halfpenny converting and keeping the scoreboard ticking with three penalties as the home side ran out of puff after a hard-hitting first period where defence was king.

"You've got to keep believing," All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw, captaining New Zealand for the 100th time in his 137th Test, said.

"It wasn't as if we were under the pump. We just had to hold the ball. Once we did that, we managed to get on top. It was important to finish off the year with a performance that we can sit back for a month and be proud of. I'm proud every time I get to lead this team."

Wales centre Jamie Roberts added: "We played very well for 65-70 minutes and in the last 10 minutes they just got away from us. They attack kicked very well and just caught us napping."

McCaw was guilty of giving away the first kickable penalty when he sniffed a jackal's chance of prising a ball loose from a ruck.

Halfpenny made no mistake from in front of the posts to open the scoring to a frenetic match marked by some brutal defence and both sides' willingness to run the ball.

Wales, guilty of 22 turnovers in their woeful 17-13 win over Fiji last weekend following a 33-28 defeat by Australia, pinpointed Savea with a series of box-kicks, but the giant winger proved capable under the high ball.

Paul James was being given a torrid time by All Black tighthead Owen Franks and when he collapsed a scrum on halfway, Barrett, with the "rusty" Carter handed water-running duties for the day, made amends with his second effort after 22 minutes.

A neat trademark show-and-go by home scrum-half Webb almost paid dividends, as the game then settled into a high-octane showdown in the middle of the park.

Wales skipper Sam Warburton broke the fluster and bluster with a sharp break, but he had no support and Charles Piutau put in a crunching last-man tackle, cross-code star Sonny Bill Williams immediately displaying his offloading skills up the end of the pitch.

Wales had obviously not heard the surreal pro-Wales half-time interview with former Baywatch hunk David Hasselhoff, who has a Welsh girlfriend Hayley Roberts, as the All Blacks scored the first try of the game just two minutes after the restart.

After Halfpenny was turned over by Read after inexplicably opting to pick and go close to his own line, Barrett shifted the ball left to Conrad Smith who, under pressure from Alex Cuthbert, produced a slick backhanded pass to Savea.

The winger hailed as the "new Jonah Lomu" easily fended off Dan Biggar's attempted tackle to touch down, Barrett nailing the touchline conversion.

The home side came roaring back, however, Taulupe Faletau stepping inside Sam Whitelock and returning a pass to Webb who darted over for a try Halfpenny converted, the full-back adding a penalty to hand Wales a 13-10 lead.

But then came New Zealand's purple period when Wales fell off the pace. When hooker Dan Coles broke down the right flank, he fed McCaw who was held up just short of the line.

The ball went back to Barrett who drilled a kick the width of the pitch for Conrad Smith to gather and offload to Kaino to score.

Barrett missed the extras but Welsh advantage was handed back when McCaw was correctly deemed to have come into a ruck at the side, Halfpenny kicking the penalty.

It was real harum-scarum rugby, showcasing an incredible physicality, but it was a moment of silky skills from Barrett that put New Zealand back in front, the fly-half gathering his own chip over a flat defence to touch down, replacement Slade converting to make it 22-16.

Welsh woe deepened when Read charged down Mike Phillips' attempted touchfinder, gathered and scored in the corner, and Barrett notched up the visitors' fifth try after another wonderful crossfield kick.

Man of the match: For Wales there were Sam Warburton, Richard Hibbard and Rhys Webb. Dan Lydiate also won some crucial turnovers and Jamie Roberts' barnstorming runs in midfield is what often got Wales on the front foot and started to give them self-belief in the second half. You can look at the usual New Zealand suspects – Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick, etc. However, our award goes to New Zealand flyhalf Beauden Barrett – not a flawless performance, but he produced the moments that counted, including that magical chip-'n-chase try that broke the Welsh resolve.

Moment of the match: There were a rush of tries in that final quarter, but this one goes to the first of Beauden Barrett's two tries, in the 70th minute. He chipped, he chased, he collected and he scored. It broke the Welsh resistance.

Villain of the match: Not sure what value the Welsh still see in Mike Phillips, but not only did he gift New Zealand a try, he also got himself into trouble with the referee for his constant shouting. Maybe if he concentrates more on his own game instead of the referee's performance he will produce a quality game.

The scorers:

For Wales:

Try: Webb

Con: Halfpenny

Pens: Halfpenny 3

For New Zealand:

Tries: Savea, Kaino, Barrett 2, Read

Cons: Barrett, Slade 2

Pen: Barrett

Teams:

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.

Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams.

New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Charles Piutau, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Liam Messam, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Luke Pearce (England)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

AFP & @rugby365com