Barnstorming Wales rattle the invincibles

New Zealand 53 Wales 37

Having seen Australia scrape through against Ireland on Saturday, he must have been amazed at the way in which New Zealand struggled to dispose of lowly Wales in the Telstra Olympic Stadium in Sydney last night.

The All Blacks and Wallabies were, by common consent, England's most dangerous opponents on their apparently unstoppable surge towards the World Cup. France must surely have assumed that mantle now in view of the All Blacks appalling defensive display, which leaked an incredible 37 points, including four tries.

Several New Zealanders are sure to feel the rough edge of the tongue of their coach John Mitchell, for some untypically slipshod tackling that allowed Mark Taylor, Sonny Parker, and Colin Charvis in for that opening half hat-trick. In all, they missed 37 up-front tackles, a rarity indeed for any New Zealand side.

Don't take any credit away from Steve Hansen's Wales.

They are a pale shadow of the days when they and last night's opponents were the pride of the two hemispheres, but they weren't afraid to run at the All Blacks, and by taking their courage in their hands, contributed hugely to a highly entertaining game of rugby that contained eight tries, and 90 points.

"We wanted to do as well as we could, and while we could have done even better, we are proud of our performance," said Welsh skipper Colin Charvis with total justification.

"After three games, we knew we had to step up several gears against New Zealand, and I suppose in the end it was a bridge too far, because their class told the longer it went on. Now we will start to build for the English."

The All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne went to great pains to compliment Wales, while holding off on criticism of his own side, who displayed no little arrogance in the way they treated them on the actual field of play.

But Thorne admitted: "Defence was the area that let us down, but we were looking for a worthy contest, and we got it."

Many Welshmen were more than a little anxious before the kick-off. Every time flying left wing, Joe Rokocoko, gained possession, the alarm signals went off in the Welsh defence. He used his speed, athleticism, and electric switch of direction to run in two early tries.

Leon MacDonald converted his own try, and then Carlos Spencer planted a perfect lofted kick for second-row Ali Williams to dive over.

MacDonald converted all four, and with Stephen Jones adding the points to his side's tries, and also putting a penalty through the sticks, the half time difference between the teams was a mere four points, 28-24.

Within seconds of the restart, Wales were back again, reducing the Blacks defence to a nonsense, and causing Mitchell to lose whatever few hairs he has remaining. Tom Shanklin romped over in the corner, Jones converted, and unbelievably Wales were 34-28 in front.!

Predictably, New Zealand then produced a mesmeric back movement that ended with Doug Howlett scoring, but even then MacDonald couldn't convert so Wales remained a point ahead. Jones kicked a penalty from in front, Mitchell rang the changes, and the presumed invincibles looked decidedly rattled.

They scorned a penalty chance in pursuit of the seven pointer. Wales kept them out at the line-out, then pushed them off their own put-in, and held the Blacks up over their own line.

Still, an hour had passed when the brilliant Carlos Spencer sprinted over, but MacDonald missed once more, and Wales were still there with a chance.

Could they come again? How hard they tried. Dynamic number six Jonathan Thomas went clean through the centre but lacked support. Stephen Jones had the ball dashed from his grasp deep in the Blacks 22.

It was terrific stuff, the kind of game that lit up a competition dogged by too many one-sided affairs. It was still only 38-37 to the All Blacks when Howlett charged over in the right corner.

Referee Andre Watson suspected a forward pass; his Irish touch judge Alan Lewis couldn't help so he asked the TV official Mark Lawrence and he gave the okay a dodgy call.

MacDonald missed yet again, but on 72 minutes tapped over a penalty from in front. Aaron Mauger got the eighth try on the blow, and MacDonald added the points this time. 53-37 to the All Blacks was more than a little flattering.

NEW ZEALAND M. Muliaina; D. Howlett, L. McDonald, A. Mauger, J. Rokocoko; C. Spencer, J. Marshall; D. Hewett, K. Mealamu, G. Somerville, B. Thorn, A. Williams, R. Thorne capt, R. McCaw, J. Collins.

WALES G. Evans; S. Williams, M. Taylor, S. Parker, T. Shanklin; S. Jones, G. Cooper; I. Thomas, R. McBryde, A. Jones, B. Cockbain, R. Sidoli, J. Thomas, C. Charvis capt, A. Popham.

Referee: A. Watson (South Africa).