Internationals - All Blacks maintain winning run

AFP - Sat, 07 Nov 17:06:00 2009

New Zealand extended their crushing rugby dominance of Wales with a hard-fought 19-12 win at the Millennium Stadium to stretch their winning streak to 21 games dating back 56 years.

Martin Roberts - Wales - 0

The All Blacks bade their time in a match where defence ruled to score 10 points in a purple patch in the second-half when they deprived Wales of any real possession or territory.

Man-of-the-match Dan Carter masterminded the All Blacks in both defence and attack, kicking four penalties and a conversion to hooker Andrew Hore's sole try of the game, with Stephen Jones knocking over four penalties for the home side.

The victory means that in 104 years of fixtures, New Zealand have now won 22 of the 25 meetings, the last Wales win in coming in 1953.

The All Blacks opened the match with an aerial bombardment of winger Leigh Halfpenny and James Hook, in at full-back for the injured Lee Byrne.

Halfpenny was penalised for holding on after scrambling to retrieve a clever Carter chip and the All Black playmaker made no mistake with an easy kick for the first points of the match.

Jones pulled Wales level after Kiwi captain Richie McCaw was adjudged to have played the ball on the floor.

But Carter restored the visitors' lead after the Welsh infringed during some desperate defence during which Brendan Leonard was denied a try by the video referee.

Neemia Tialata failed to roll away from the tackle and Jones brought parity to the scores with a simple penalty.

Carter handed the All Blacks the lead after just three minutes of the second-half when veteran flanker Martyn Williams played the ball as the Kiwis pressed the Welsh line.

With both sides running the ball, and Hook in particular fielding all kicks with aplomb, it was the Welsh defence which buckled, letting Hore burrow in for a try in the corner which Carter converted for a 16-6 lead.

The visitors' tails were suddenly up, Brad Thorn rumbling 30 metres upfield to set up an attacking position the Kiwis almost capitalised on, Conrad Smith held up over the line by Shane Williams after a slick interchange of passes in midfield.

Wales were struggling to get out their own half, let alone get their hands on the ball, and Carter added a fourth penalty in the 65th minute when Andy Powell infringed on the floor.

Jones hit straight back after McCaw was penalised for 19-9 as Wales finally managed to break out of their own half.

But it was that man Carter again who was on hand to produce a covering, albeit high, try-saving tackle on replacement scrum-half Martin Roberts after Shane Williams had stepped away from his marker.

Jones claimed a fourth penalty from out wide with five minutes to play to set up a nail-biting finish.

To the delight of the 74,330-capacity crowd, Alun-Wyn Jones intercepted a sloppy Jimmy Cowan pass and accelerated away to the All Blacks 22-metre line.

But the excellent Zac Guildford, making his debut on the wing, tracked back and knocked down the Welsh lock's effort to offload.

Wales then squandered a line-out on the All Black five-metre line and were turned over in midfield by the imcomparable midfield pairing of Ma'a Nonu and Smith to ensure New Zealand got their European tour off to a perfect start.

AFP

Comment 18 - 37 of 37

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  1. No 33, a "very" average NZ team barely­ stepping out of first gear beat an average Wales team­ who rarely looked threatening till the last 10 minutes.­ Not enough. Barely a warm up game for the AB's.­ Just accept that you "LOST" again. Please!­ God sake. You can talk yourselves up again next year,­ just like you do, "EVERY" year.

    Wales are a­ good side, but regardless of all the talk before and­ after the game, you need to do far more. I'm a bit­ ashamed of Warren "The mouth" Gatland too.

    From ***, on Tue 10 Nov 9:37PM

  2. #34
    What you are seeing is a very new All Blacks teams,­ you are right in saying that they arent playing the­ best but trust me they are playing better then what­ they were earlier in the season. If by this time next­ year they are still playing like this it might be of­ some concern.

    Loving the new Backs trio, throw in­ Smith,Nonu and Carter and you have 6 players that will­ run havoc wiht ball in hand and their kicking game,­ once Jane and Guilford are settled in we will have­ running like the Carlos Spencer days!

    From anthony p, on Sun 8 Nov 6:49PM

  3. The Irony about that tackle is that if you watch the­ video He was about to fall over anyway, he kinda dives­ forward to probably break through the tackle but­ because carter gets a hand round his shoulder and­ looking at the photo gives it some muscle it came of­ looking a hell of a lot worse then it was, on first­ looks yeah probably could have been a penalty as the­ refs dont have the benefit of the slow mo.

    I think­ everybody it just going to be one of those 50/50 calls­ that no one will ever agree on.

    From anthony p, on Sun 8 Nov 6:43PM

  4. wales are the best in the northern hemisphere at­ playing southern hemisphere rugby i.e. flat d,­ variation in angles and support. saying that, all the­ above were lacking which is why they will be­ frustrated. no pointing fingers though, wales should do­ better than 50% for the ai's.

    From duane, on Sun 8 Nov 5:52PM

  5. If that's the best NZ can do against a very average­ welsh team then NZ your in big trouble,

    From limo1wales L, on Sun 8 Nov 2:33PM

  6. Has anyone thought to ask the Welsh coaching staff what­ tactics did they ask the players to employ during the­ match. As we all know messages are sent on throughout­ the match which affect the way a team will play.May I­ suggest that the kick off tactics may have been used to­ make the All Black return to the Welsh team by way of a­ line out or kick down field thus giving the ball back

    From Stephen, on Sun 8 Nov 1:30PM

  7. One thing that is been overlooked is that the match was­ very poor quality. We got about 10min of exciting rugby­ and the rest was kicking and turnovers. If Wales were a­ little bit more imaginative they could have ended their­ 57 year wait. I don't think I have ever seen a NZ­ team lacking in confidence like the one yesterday.­ Wales should be kicking themselves this morning as they­ are a lot better than what they showed yesterday.

    From markear1, on Sun 8 Nov 1:00PM

  8. wales are getting better every time they­ play,considering the lack of teams we have to choose­ from for our squad unlike england and other big­ countries. wont be long and we willbe back at the­ top.

    well done lads made me proud to be welsh

    From seasons12379, on Sun 8 Nov 12:30PM

  9. David #22

    You have a point.

    From Donald D, on Sun 8 Nov 12:23PM

  10. Hook is a much better 10 and he's bigger and­ stronger than 2yrs ago-he's a runner and commits­ defences(UNLIKE JONES) back row and opposite 10.­ He's prone to the odd daft play but at least he­ tries to be positive.
    Bigger was another option and i­ know people say he's only 20 but how else are you­ gonna get experiance except time on the pitch,­ wilkinson and carter both played for their countries at­ 19. Talking of wilkinson he's still a class act and­ i reckon if he'd been in SA in the summer the lions­ would have won-your thoughts??
    Final thought mentioning­ o'gara's name here's is like swearing after­ he gave the game away in the summer what a muppet he­ is!!!!

    From Simon W, on Sun 8 Nov 11:59AM

  11. In all fairness to Stephen Jones look what happened­ when O'Gara was put on in the Lions games?

    He is­ not the most exciting player to watch granted, but who­ would you choose at 10, Hook who cant­ communicate?

    Jones does give direction and has a solid­ tackle.

    From Graham H, on Sun 8 Nov 11:42AM

  12. Yahoo, another blinkered report! Try saving tackle by­ Carter? Is was blatant foul play- should have been sin­ binned and thus reducing the All Blacks to 14men.

    From dyfanmael, on Sun 8 Nov 11:42AM

  13. comment 12-I've watched the game back and my­ thoughts are the same, there's no coincidence that­ coopers off the pitch replaced by the scarlets scrum­ half and the ball gets away quicker i.e Jamie Roberts­ break,Shane Williams break, cooper is at best the 4Th­ best 9 in wales and has an annoying pause just b4 he­ lets the ball go,Phillips does the same,peel gets it­ straight out-FACT. As for Stephen Jones running the­ game-LMFAO the guys couldn't make a decision if­ there was a gun to his head, that's why he's­ know by many as Mr indecisive as i said he runs like a­ robot and has a 32MB brain to go with it.

    From Simon W, on Sun 8 Nov 11:34AM

  14. I dont think there was anything in it by half time but­ NZ stepped up a gear and played on the fringes of­ legality. However the better team won on the day and­ Wales were match rusty and had chances to score at­ towards the end, if­ only............................

    Bring on the rest of­ the games!

    From Graham H, on Sun 8 Nov 11:26AM

  15. to beat nz/sa/aus wales got to start cheating and get­ nastier win at all costs MARTIN JONSON proved that to­ win RWC

    From david.griffiths10, on Sun 8 Nov 10:38AM

  16. Hard lines Wales,keep on trying you will get tthe win­ you need,same old story the referee us down­ (again.)
    Come on Walessssss.

    From Dilwyn, on Sun 8 Nov 10:28AM

  17. It is not big or clever to dress up as a daffodil

    From David, on Sun 8 Nov 6:35AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    skyrmel , biggest sore loser ever, u r worse than the­ english, get over it your team lost and thats that­ wlaes got done over by a better team and the whole­ world saw it, all the singing in the world couldnt save­ them from the beating they recieved !

    From derekharrison1983, on Sun 8 Nov 5:06AM

  19. OK people , maybe Dan Carter shoulkd have been binned ,­ but refs miss sin binning offenses all the time like­ hands in the ruck and lying on top of the ball ,­ entering from the side etc etc that prevent tries from­ being scored. Everybody makes out that Dan went in­ deliberatly , THATS BULL.@#$% , I have been watching­ Dan for 9 years , aint never done anything like that.­

    So winging welshman , the All Blacks should have had­ at least another try but for the blind video ref. Its­ like the forwards pass that allowed france to score to­ beat the AB's , that cost them the match . Wales­ werent good enough to score a try and that that.

    From ninja_king_returns, on Sun 8 Nov 3:32AM

  20. poor old derekf uckwit harisson knows bugge r all about­ rugby

    From skyrmel, on Sun 8 Nov 1:14AM
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