third place play off rwc
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
NZ 40-17 WALES
SMITH SLINKY
The All Blacks’ loose head prop with the first try! They
shrug off that early missed penalty by Mo’unga as Retallick collects a good
off-load and bursts into the 22 with a lovely step off his left foot. He then
sees Moody on his right shoulder and sends him clear with a clinical pass.
Moody sprints beyond the cover and dives over for the first score.
A yard of space is all they need. The All Blacks move into
the Welsh 22, Smith collects from a ruck, then sees Barrett running a
perceptive diagonal line to the inside. Smith off-loads and Barrett charges
through the gap and under the posts. Mo’unga adds the conversion.
Sensational score by Hallam Amos. Wales take it through more
than 10 phases near the All Blacks’ line. There are some bone-jarring tackles
from the All Blacks but Gatland’s men spin the ball left, and instead of using
an overlap, Amos dummies convincingly before showing Mo’unga a clean pair of
heels to sprint over the line
Wales rewarded for another bright attacking move into All
Blacks’ territory. There are several crunching hits by the New Zealand
defenders with Gatland’s men knocking on the door again and moving through the
phases extremely well. The penalty comes and Patchell strokes over an easy
three-pointer. Just four points in it, and Wales looking more than capable of
pulling off a famous win if they keep playing like this.
A moment of carelessness by Wales that is ruthlessly
punished. Wales are trying to build another attack from their own 22 but fail
to protect the ball and it’s stolen by Retallick at the breakdown. That gives
them tonnes of options, with the Wales defence unprepared for the turnover.
Smith ignores team-mates out wide to step once, then twice off his left foot
and storm through a tiny gap and over the line despite a despairing tackle by
Hallam Amos. What a world-class finish - and a fine way to mark his final
outing with the All Blacks. Mo’unga converts.
The All Blacks attack on the right, and a wonderful pass by
scrum-half Aaron Smith finds his namesake Ben in space on the wing. He skips
beyond Welsh No 9 Williams thanks to a textbook hand-off in the face, and also
burns off Adams in the corner, before grounding his second try of the match
Mo’unga kicks for touch in the corner, the resulting Wales
line-out is spoiled and New Zealand have their opponents under pressure early
in the second half, spinning the ball out to the right. Taking two defenders
out of the game, Sonny Bill Williams off-loads very nicely to Ryan Crotty who
powers over the try line for his own farewell score. Smith the scrum-half was
right in the thick of the action again and is making his team tick. Mo’unga
converts.
A top-class score with a pick-and-go by Adams from short
range. That is his seventh try of the tournament - and no-one will catch him at
the top of the try-scoring charts. Hats off to Wales for battling back into
this one after some quicksilver rugby from New Zealand had them on the back
foot in the third quarter. Adams has shown tonight that he is dangerous at close
quarters with defenders as well as when he has space out on the wing. On a
number of occasions he’s shown superb technique and strength to make headway in
tight spaces where less powerful wingers would be driven back. Biggar converts.
Mo’unga snipes over from that five-metre scrum. A smart pass
by Brad Weber on the short side finds his fly-half in space and Mo’unga darts
over.
MY
OPINION
Wales just could not cope with
the all blacks on any level as they have shown in this match that they were unbeatable
at times and you do wonder why they could not do this against England as they
were able to tear the blacks in the first half
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