New Zealand 46 – 6 Wales: Player Ratings

5. Israel Dagg: 8
Electric first half, when he embarrassed Welsh defenders with the ease of naturist parent. Got a bit cocky in the second half and a couple of errors (including a blown try) blotted his copy book, but his try at the death was well deserved. Needs to rethink his moustache.

14. Ben Smith: 8.5
How good is this guy? He looks like an IT technician but he glided past players with ease and popped up everywhere. Brilliant rugby brain and showed his finishing skills with a well-taken score in the corner.

13. George Moala: 7.5
Looks like Fekitoa has genuine competition now. Moala made three line breaks and his footwork and acceleration ripped the Welsh defence to pieces at times in the first half. Wriggled over for a good score but loses a mark for getting greedy and butchering what would have been one of the tries of the year when he had two men outside him.

12. Ryan Crotty: 6
In a backline of superstars, there has to be a Mr Reliable somewhere. Sorry, Ryan, that’s you. Solid, organised, dependable – yes, it’s not box-office, but it’s necessary.

11. Julian Savea: 5
When it’s not going your way, it’s not going your way. The Bus has had a ropey season so far and it continued against Wales – the bloke was desperate to make an impression but dodgy hands let him down, particularly with the first catch of the game. One big run showed his quality but otherwise couldn’t influence the game.

10. Beauden Barrett: 9
Oh good, so Dan Carter’s replacement’s back-up is still better than any other fly half in world rugby? It looks that way. To be fair, I know a lot of us had the young Hurricane penned as the heir apparent anyway, but against Wales he ran the show. Organising the talent around him, creating havoc with his running and always executing the right decision, he looked the real deal and finished with a deserved two tries. Man of the match.

9. Aaron Smith: 8
Still looks like the best 9 in the world. Razor sharp service of the base and always a running threat, but it’s his speed to each breakdown which really helps with All Black continuity. Also threw a couple of gorgeous ‘Hail Mary’ passes which very few others could get away with.

1. Joe Moody: 6.5
Pretty quiet in the loose but did the grafting that was expected of him. His main impression was somehow executing a fireman’s carry on Tomas Francis in a scrum, where he definitely had the edge.

2. Dane Coles: 8
The usual all-action display from Coles. He reminds me of a labrador puppy in that he just seems to charge about constantly having the time of his life, which is great to see. One missed tackle aside, he was impressive everywhere and notched up another well-taken score.

3. Charlie Faumuina: 7
He was a key part of a dominant scrum effort and his side seemed to particularly get the upper hand, particularly early on. Carried well and made the hard yards with useful regularity.

4. Brodie Retallick: 8
‘Lurch’ was once again at his galloping best against Wales. Great hands and superb aggression and power in contact made sure that the men in red felt his impact all too keenly.

5. Sam Whitelock: 6
Nowhere near as conspicuous as his partner in the second row but somebody has to do the hard grafting, right? Physical and effective in the tight exchanges, but not really seen out in the open.

6. Elliot Dixon: 6.5
Grew into the game on his debut. Made lots of tackles and got through lots of unglamorous work in the first half but managed to get his hands on the ball a bit more in the second. Needs to re-think that electric tape-based head-band, however, if he wants to be taken seriously.

7. Sam Cane: 6.5
He may have inherited the famous black 7 shirt but he’s yet to inherit Mr McCaw’s Cloak of Invisibility. Got pinged too often and got sent to the naughty boy chair – but his work in defence was otherwise superb and showed great hands to set up Coles, as well as turning over the ball late on for Dagg, too.

8. Kieran Read: 7.5
Not at his most prominent with the ball in hand, but still incredibly influential in everything that he did. Got about the park and made telling contributions at key moments in defence and attack.

Substitutes: 6
Waisake Naholo had a run at center and was solid, although his hands let him down a couple of times. Liam Squire made his debut at 6 and caught the eye immediately with some powerful carries.

WALES

15. Rhys Patchell: 6
I still have my doubts as to whether he’s physically up to Test rugby – he’s obviously a smaller player but he doesn’t have electric speed, either. That said, he has cajones the size of space hoppers – never shirking in defence and always willing in attack. Didn’t really go his way but never stopped going.

14. Liam Williams: 8.5
The highest praise I can give him is that he wasn’t outshone by his opposite number, Ben Smith. Didn’t get the ball all that much but when he did, he looked dangerous like he has all season – but it was in defence where he was particularly heroic, making three try-savers with one on Moala bordering on the miraculous. A real positive from an otherwise miserable tour.

13. Jonathan Davies: 6
Had a better second half but was left isolated all too often in defence, and dropped off a couple of tackles, which didn’t help. Tried to get his hands on the ball and usually made a half break but this looked a game too far for him.

12. Jamie Roberts: 5
If Sam Cane hasn’t got the cloak of invisibility, I’m fairly sure I know where to find it. In fairness, this was an improvement from a very poor second test and he made a couple of solid carries, but I think his defence is becoming too suspect. AWOL all too often and palmed off all too easily.

11. Hallam Amos: 4.5
Like Rhys Patchell, I’m not sure if is physically up for Test rugby but, unlike Rhys Patchell, I think Amos knows it. All too often, he doesn’t seem to ‘fancy it’ – perhaps that’s harsh, but examples like when he was stood in front of Jonathan Davies when Wales were trying to counter attack from deep give an impression of a bloke who doesn’t seem comfortable in this environment.

10. Dan Biggar: 4
Not his best day by a long stretch. His kicking from hand was far too loose, particularly in the first half, and he invited Dagg to run the ball back with interest all too often. He also allowed his opposite number, Barrett, to do a reasonable Lomu impersonation on him when wriggling over for a score.

9. Rhys Webb: 5
Some decent moments with the ball in hand and his service was OK, but he has to take his share of the blame for a poor Welsh kicking game which just invited pressure, which the World Champions delivered in spades.

1. Rob Evans: 6
Had a difficult time in the scrum but didn’t let that affect the rest of his game, which in fairness was very decent. He tackled hard, got about the park and still carried very well on the rare occasion his side had the ball.

2. Ken Owens: 6
The lineout ran pretty smoothly and, like Evans, he can be satisfied with his contributions in the loose. There’s still no standout candidate for that two shirt, though, and thus little continuity – Gatland will need to address this in the autumn.

3. Tomas Francis: 5
In fairness, not many would have bounced back from being carried away in the scrum like a naughty boy slung over his dad’s shoulder. Francis did manage to turn the tables with one crucial scrum by his own line, though, and deserves credit for that – but he was mostly under pressure and unable to contribute too much elsewhere.

4. Luke Charteris: 5
Tackled well throughout the game and was a reliable source of lineout ball – as ever. However, he had hands like feet, particularly in the first half, and gave away a couple of early penalties.

5. Alun Wyn Jones: 6
Worked his legs off to the point where you could see that the bloke was running on empty. Never took a step back and was always physical, but his side was well-beaten. Can hold his head up high, but that’ll be no consolation – he needs a well-earned holiday.

6. Ross Moriarty: 7
Another rare success story from this tour. Moriarty was brutally physical in defence and got some nice ‘oohs’ from the crowd as he stood his ground, and was typically aggressive with the ball in hand, too. Decent performance in a pack going backwards, on the most part.

7. Sam Warburton: 6
Did well to slow ball down on a couple of occasions but, like Wyn Jones, looks in desperate need of a break. He was just a split second off the pace at the breakdown and, although he worked his socks off, got little reward at the breakdown for his efforts.

8. Taulupe Faletau: 6
Not as conspicuous as in the first two Tests and struggled to make an impact with the ball in hand, apart from a couple of decent jaunts in the second half. Otherwise, made his tackles but couldn’t do enough to get the better of the imperious Mr Read.

By Mike Cooper
Follow Mike on Twitter: @RuckedOver