15. Ben Smith: 7
Great lines but a couple of errors. Beautiful catch & return to set up try. Moved to wing and looked good there.
14. Waisake Naholo: 6.5
Sublime in attack, beyond woeful in defence – like two different players. Just edged more good than bad. Just. Two great tries.
13. Malakai Fekitoa: 6
Lovely hit on the Dr, not quite the finished test article but getting there, needs to be clinical when he gets his chances.
12. Ryan Crotty: 5
I know he’s got big boots to fill, but he failed to do so. Distinctly ordinary.
11. Julian Savea: 5
Poor – possibly one of his worst games in an AB jersey? His try got him from 4 to 5 by the skin of his teeth.
10. Aaron Cruden: 7
Another All Black that just started to click at the end. Some lovely touches & kicking from hand but sub-standard off the tee.
9. Aaron Smith: 8
I think he kept All Blacks in the game and made sure nobody panicked and trusted themselves to come good on the hour. Nuggety & darting as always, always a handful.
1. Joe Moody: 6
Scrummed well & stayed out of trouble, that’ll get you 6 in the front row these days. Maybe we’ll get magic next week?
2. Dane Coles: 7
Previous ‘magic moments’ have me probably expecting too much from him and it wasn’t a day for those. He hit his targets at the lineout and defended well in open play.
3. Owen Franks: 6
Scrummed well & stayed out of trouble – as I’ve said, that’ll get you 6 in the front row these days.
4. Luke Romano: 7
Similar performance to his partner lock – and he missed Liam Teflon Williams too!
5. Brodie Retallick: 8
Missed tackle on slippery Liam Williams will haunt him but gave 100% all day, brilliant, verbose lock-like performance.
6. Jerome Kaino: 7
Solid test. Workmanlike. Just want you want from your backrow when things aren’t going to plan.
7. Sam Cane: 5.5
Another guy with big boots to fill and another failure to do so on this occasion. Another player who needs to put in a massive shift next time.
8. Kieran Read: 8
Great game, captained well and lead from the front. Another great hit on the Dr and delivered those moments that wake the crowd back up. Job done.
Replacements: 7
Ardie Savea took to test rugby like the proverbial duck to water on debut, while Patrick Tuipulotu was the other standout from the bench with a key lineout steal and assist. The Hurricanes pair of TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett also showed what a threat they are.
WALES
15. Liam Williams: 8
Scintilating running and great to watch on the counter-attack. One defensive blip before coming off with a knock late on.
14. George North: 7.5
Maybe should have done better on Savea’s try? Constant threat in attack and did ‘something’ every time he touched the ball. Getting back to his best.
13. Jonathan Davies: 6.5
Solid in defence, but lacking creative touch and variety in attack.
12. Jamie Roberts: 6
Ordinary. If Wales really are going to play with width (and I so hope they do) then they need a different skillset at 12. Solid defence, of course.
11. Hallam Amos: 6
stayed calm to put Faletau in but other than that, hasn’t made the step up to test rugby yet & could get found out in tests two and three.
10. Dan Biggar: 7
Not his usual 100% off the tee but as always, solid in defence and made good decisions as playmaker.
9. Rhys Webb: 8
Along with Faletau and Williams, he was amongst Wales’ best. Constantly pushing boundaries of ‘forward’ pass and getting away with it, as any nine should. Not bad when you’re up against a fizzing Aaron Smith. Couple of clean darts. Scored a try and stopped one too – can’t ask much more.
1. Gethin Jenkins: 7
I’m hoping he went over that hit on Cruden a few times in the bar? Gave 100% and turned back the clock to shut up all those doubters (including me), all over the pitch. Gethin isn’t done quite yet!
2. Ken Owens: 7
Had his problems at the set piece but got stuck in in open play, and helped Wales maintain that vibrancy for the first hour.
3. Samson Lee: 6
Scrummed well & stayed out of trouble… you know the rest.
4. Bradley Davies: 5.5
Pretty anonymous. ‘New Age’ locks have lifted expectations and ‘solid at the scrum’ isn’t enough anymore.
5. Alun Wyn Jones: 6
Flaky lineout won’t have helped but again, will be expecting more of himself than just ‘leadership’. Competed well for the full 80 but didn’t shine.
6. Ross Moriarty: 7
This will have been invaluable experience for Ross & he coped well. Great tackle count and willing to do his bit for the full 80. More to come.
7. Sam Warburton: 6
100% for effort – as always – but not in contention at the breakdown which is where he wants to be setting out his stall. Recently back from injury, this will have been a test he was happy to come through ok. Onwards and upwards.
8. Taulupe Faletau: 9
The best player for Wales. 100% tackle record, scored a try and was everywhere. Looks in good shape for full 80 too.
Replacements: 5
Gatland waited quite a while to empty his bench, but no-one could really make an impact as they chased the game in vain. Ellis Jenkins was probably the pick of the bunch with an impressive debut cameo, while Scott Williams also impressed in dispatches.
By John ‘Max’ Maxwell (@RuckinRugby)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
As you know by now, we are hilarious, and you should be following us on Facebook and Twitter. 
So NZ total 106 and Wales total 107.5
If I didn’t know better then I would think Wales Narrowly won this one
That’s right – you’ve discovered the mathematical secret to all sports results Leon (sshhhh). I wouldn’t bother watching on Saturday – I’ll just ping you my ratings ;-)
I’d knock 1 off all the wales players apart from Webb and Faletau. That would seem about right for me. NZ feels about right.
Thanks Beep – but would you put both fullbacks on equal points then?
I would have knocked at least one off Wyn Jones because of his penalty count, 0.5 – 1 off Warburton (pretty anonymous), with Davies, Roberts and Amos also marked too high. Otherwise not a bad effort. Wales matched the AB’s but ran out of steam. Needed a good, early impact from the bench that never came.
Brian “Tom” Stoppard
I saw the very same expression, i.e., ‘Wales… ran out of steam’, in some paper, but what does this actually mean & why would they do so?
Didn’t the ABs simply up the tempo & get more the pill in the 2nd?
Wales couldn’t get enough ball & were unable to defend indefinitely, or IOW, they lost the breakdown/possession stakes.
NZ also tightened up their ‘D’ a bit after 1/2 time & so didn’t need to defend as much due to their better ball retention.
If Wales improve similarly nxt Sat, they’ll give themselves more of a shout… won’t they?
Wales need Charteris back and badly. Davies and Ball are not good enough at this level.
Think Amos deserves a much lower mark. Mostly invisible apart from when he gave Naholo what seemd to be half the pitch to beat him on the outside.
Also North. Some nice runs but wasn’t even close to a couple of high balls and his tackling was distinctly suspect for such a big bloke.
Yeah, a few people have talked about Wales ‘winning until they ran out of steam’ – but if an 800m sprinted the first lap you wouldn’t applaud him for it, would you? You certainly wouldn’t say anyone ‘stole it’ later on. There’s 80 minutes and a scoreboard, the rest is guff. Wales HAVE to get past this amateur tendancy to get over excited and start at a pace that they cannot keep up. At this level, in this era … the best teams do not give up and go home and if you have to give everything for 60 minutes to be ‘in it’ then …. you’re always going to lose the last 20. Simple as that. In my opinion Wales & their coaching staff need a complete reboot, they need to approach a game as being 80 minutes and thinking about results. Unless of course, they just want to continue with this false prophecy that they’d win if they just did the same … a bit longer.