All Blacks v Wales player ratings: How the Welsh rated in 52-26 defeat
How the Wales team rated in their 52-26 defeat to the All Blacks in Cardiff.
1 Rhys Carre – 3
Missed four tackles, including the Ruben Love line break which led to a try and also had no luck stopping Tamaiti Williams from close range. Welsh scrum held its own but was nothing special. Off after 51 minutes. Returned for a brief four-minute stint.
2 Dewi Lake – 6
Lineout was an issue all test. Had one stolen another not straight. Was only effective when throwing long. Huge defensive effort, however, finishing with 20 tackles.
3 Keiron Assiratti – 4
Conceded two penalties including one after a charging run which ruined an attacking chance for Wales. Made 12 tackles without missing one. Also left after 51 minutes.
4 Dafydd Jenkins – 6
His charge-down led to the third Welsh try, but Dafydd Jenkins had a tough night at lineout time with just one successful win. Like many of his teammates, tackled his heart out the whole match finishing with 21.
5 Adam Beard – 5
Beaten at lineout a few times. Some solid work around the field, but overall didn’t leave a mark.
6 Alex Mann – 7
Huge defensive effort with 21 tackles and ended up being the most reliable option in the troubled Welsh lineout. Some good work chasing kickoffs to put pressure on ABs. However, did concede penalty in own territory.
7 Harri Deaves – 8
Debutant flanker was the best on the field for the home side. Made the strong early runs when they did have the ball and then just kept tackling throughout the test, finishing with 21, including a few heavy hits. Was part of the lapse in defence that saw Love break free with try.
8 Taine Plumtree – 5
Mixed night for the former Blues player. Penalised early for being off his feet. Made errors on two restarts. Finished the match as the top tackler with 22 but also missed four all in in first half. Received a yellow card for high shot on Will Jordan.
9 Tomos Williams – 7
Followed the script of all No 9s against the All Blacks this year – kick the ball high and watch them make mistakes. Great grubber in lead-up to second try.
10 Dan Edwards – 7
Wales didn’t have much ball, but they still managed to make an impact on the game. Great pass for the opening try followed by an impressive hoof for some 50-plus metres. Did well in the air against Jordan and then later made a try-saving tackle on Jordan, holding him up.
11 Tom Rogers – 7
Pretty impressive to score a hat-trick when you only touched the ball three times in the match. But didn’t have to do much work for the first two at least. Left the field after 54 minutes.
12 Joe Hawkins – 4
Missed six tackles including getting stood up by Leicester Fainga’anuku in the closing stages. Threw a great pass for third try.
13 Max Llewellyn – 5
Threw assist for the second try and was later bounced off by Caleb Clarke for try that wasn’t. Conceded two penalties and missed a few tackles.
14 Louis Rees-Zammit – 7
Showed off a few of his NFL skills with a great diving effort to score in the corner and a superb step on Caleb Clarke was shades of Isiah Pacheco. Was beaten out wide for All Blacks first try but there wasn’t much he could do. Great high take from Damian McKenzie but then got turned into a doormat by Samisoni Taukei’aho.
15 Blair Murray – 6
The Hāwera-born Welshman was strong under the high ball throughout the test including a strong run on the back of one catch. Did a good job to stop Clarke and recover a Cortez Ratima kick.
Bench:
16 Brodie Coghlan – 3
Only on for a few minutes.
17 Gareth Thomas – 2
Earned a yellow card after six minutes on the field.
18 Archie Griffin – 3
Penalised at scrum time but high tackle count in time on the field.
19 Freddie Thomas – 3
Just nine minutes at the end and didn’t do anything of note.
20 Morgan Morse – 5
A few strong tackles in his test debut.
21 Kieran Hardy – 4
Not much of an impact.
22 Jarrod Evans – 3
Missed the tackle on Sevu Reece before try.
23 Nick Tompkins – 5
Made a few late crashing runs as Welsh enjoyed some late possession.
Cameron McMillan has been a sports journalist since 2003 and is NZME’s Deputy Head of Sport.