Read Robert Kitson’s match report from Cardiff:
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Here’s Robert Kitson’s report
All Blacks’ stand-in skipper Sam Whitelock talks. “They call these games a Test match for a reason,” he says. “They’re never easy.” And with that trademark no-easy-games cliche, thanks for joining me. Bye!
Man of the match, Rieko Ioane, speaks. “It was awesome to play in,” he says. “To play the Welsh at home was something special, something I will not forget. It has been a season of ups and downs but we are happy with how it ended. We have a mix of senior and young players and I am proud of the boys.”
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Full-time: Wales 18-33 New Zealand
And that’s it. Rieko Ioane was ultimately the difference in Cardiff. That is 40 consecutive wins over Wales for the All Blacks.
78 mins Wales have the ball but Rieko Ioane has taken the wind out of their sales singlehanded, unfortunately.
75 mins And the conversion from Barrett is good. Is the dream over? Any hopes of toppling the All Blacks for the first time in 64 years seem like a distant memory now.
Try! Wales 18-31 New Zealand (Ioane, 74 mins)
Ah. That was shortlived. Rieko Ioane runs beyond four Wales shirts before touching down. A classy try.
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72 mins Head in hands stuff for Steve Hansen ...
70 mins Leigh Halfpenny curls in the conversion to take Wales to within eight points of the All Blacks.
Try! Wales 16-26 New Zealand (Davies, 69 mins)
Game on ...
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67 mins Faletau makes an explosive burst for the line but he can’t quite make it. He’s denied by two magnificent All Blacks lunges. And now Whitelock is off, he’s been sin-binned by Barnes for getting in where he shouldn’t. He had been warned. Wales are in the ascendency ...
65 mins Rhys Priestland comes on to win his 50th cap for Wales as Dan Biggar jogs off. Can he perform the miracle Wales now require? Meanwhile, Wayne Barnes, warns Whitelock of the sin-bin.
Try! Wales 11-24 New Zealand (Ioane, 62 mins)
Rieko Ioane snuffs out a pass and he’s laughing all the way to try-line. They don’t come much easier than that. In fairness to him, he read the ball so early. Barrett converts for 11-26.
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61 mins A forward pass by Waisake Naholo earns Wales a scrum on the halfway ...
60 mins Gatland has made a couple of personnel changes: Jamie Roberts takes to the field, with Scott Williams departing. And Alun Wyn Jones replaces Rob Evans. Meanwhile, Steff Evans tackles McKenzie, in the ascendency for a moment.
59 mins Beauden Barrett kicks downfield from the penalty after Wales are penalised in the counter-ruck. Cody Taylor chucks in the ball from the lineout, won by Scott Barrett. The maul moves forward a decent pace before Wales win themselves a scrum.
Try! Wales 11-17 New Zealand (Brown, 57 mins)
Rieko Ioane kickstarts the move and Anton Lienert-Brown obliges to finish it. And then comes the conversion. Suddenly the gap to Wales is eight points.
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53 mins Damian McKenzie prompts a decent All Blacks move, via Sonny Bill. Whitelock takes over before Whitelock has a run at the Wales back line. Halfpenny clears into touch ...
52 mins The game is getting a little scrappy. Fine margins are at stake in Cardiff.
49 mins Helluva kick, a mammoth dispatch by Dan Biggar sees Wales trudge upfield and New Zealand retreat. Wales supporters rise up off their seats ...
48 mins Wales are little lopsided and Naholo is in for a kick and run hat-trick. Wales dig deep to get back at him, and there are a couple of bodies on the floor, including Tom Francis and Scott Williams. Scott Barrett, brother of Beauden, is on for the All Blacks. Wales get back to their feet, and Biggar kicks long.
47 mins Hallam Amos has been superb this evening, he turns over the ball deep inside the Wales 22. Unfortunately, this burst comes to nothing before New Zealand take back possession, with Barrett finding Sonny Bill.
45 mins Wales twice squander possession, allowing New Zealand to break. It eventually gets to Naholo, but the second row fight back to get back at Sonny Bill. A frenetic start to this second period.
42 mins Barrett’s kick is straight to Amos. He then finds Owen Williams. Cory Hill then is forced to stand his ground. Wales have been a little too inviting and then the All Blacks nick it back through Ioane.
41 mins Dan Biggar get things restarted for Wales ...
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A little stat wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it? Waisake Naholo has now registered five tries across his four Test appearances against Wales. Over in Dublin, Ireland have a 13-0 lead over Argentina. The second half will be upon us shortly ...
Half-time score: Wales 11-12 New Zealand
Wales cannot make it the perfect half, missing the conversion, but that was a cracking 40 minutes or so.
Try! Wales 11-12 New Zealand (Williams, 40 mins)
Brilliant. Great play by Hallam Amos, who surges through the centre after, second-hand, collecting the lineout. Then he, unselfishly, slides the ball across to Biggar, who allows Williams to drive home.
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Try! Wales 6-12 New Zealand (Naholo, 38 mins)
Ah. There it is. Two chances, two tries for the All Blacks. Sonny Bill looks for the offload and another killer pass from Smith tees up Naholo to sweep over the line. Again it goes to TMO, but it’s a routine, snapshot decision. Barrett, from 41m, almost thrashes home the conversion from an acute angle. Not this time.
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36 mins New Zealand, who have been on the defensive most of this half, are ramping it up a little now.
33 mins Gareth Davies does brilliantly, latching on to his own kick to gain territory inside the opposition 22. The All Blacks are not having it all their own way in Cardiff. Can Wales make the most of this rosy spell?
Penalty! Wales 6-7 New Zealand (Halfpenny, 32 mins)
Warren Gatland’s side close the gap to just one point.
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28 mins Halfpenny bursts through centrally before Barrett crunches him in the tackle. Shortly after boos ring out around the Principality, with Wales awarded a penalty after Steff Evans was adjudged to have been obstructed. He knew what he was doing. Can they capitalise on that?
27 mins Another chance goes begging for Wales, as Josh Navidi breaks past Taylor but runs out of support with the try-line in sight. Then comes the inevitable knock-on. Promising stuff by Wales, though.
26 mins Steff Evans is in hot pursuit of McKenzie but he dives out of the way deep inside his own half, before Whitelock calms things down. The All Blacks got away with that. And just before, Leigh Halfpenny has the distance but his penalty his wide.
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22 mins New Zealand earn a free-kick due to Wales’ pre-engagement at the scrum. Biggar seizes the ball and races into the All Blacks’ half. Faletau then takes over before second-row Cory Hill drops it. Both teams are guilty of too many unforced errors so far.
21 mins Wales build after a spell of decent pressure but it goes loose via Faletau and the chance has gone. New Zealand put up the scrum.
19 mins Cory Hill replaces Jake Ball, who musters enough energy to thank home supporters for their concern as he leaves the field prematurely. It looked like a shoulder injury of sorts. Meanwhile, Ryan Crotty heads down the tunnel for New Zealand. Three early injuries have killed the initial buzz.
18 mins Jake Ball is down for Wales, receiving gas and air, and it doesn’t look too good. It was a fairly innocuous challenge, but he seems in pain. Going back to that All Blacks try, it was just such an incisive and clinical move.
16 mins A moment’s pressure from New Zealand, and the All Blacks have themselves a try. Fifteen-odd minutes of Wales pressure but Warren Gatland’s side are the ones trailing in Cardiff. Still, take nothing away from the slick move, kickstarted by Rieko Ioane and then Aaron Smith.
Try! Wales 3-5 New Zealand (Naholo, 14 mins)
After a glance at TMO, the try is given. New Zealand’s break causes confusion and Waisake Naholo is in to finish. Barrett duly converts.
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12 mins Wayne Barnes hurries the scrum. Owen Williams finds Scott Williams, but Wales are offside and a penalty deep inside of their own half for New Zealand. Meanwhile, an early enforced change for Wales as Gareth Davies replaces Webb at scrum-half.
Penalty! Wales 3-0 New Zealand (Halfpenny, 9 mins)
And Wales take the lead, courtesy of Halfpenny’s kick.
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7 mins Wales have to go back to go forward, with Owen Williams playing in Faletau. He’s then cut down by a barrage of All Blacks. Wales go again, and as New Zealand try the art of counter-rucking, the hosts earn a penalty.
6 mins Webb and then Ball lead the charge, 2m from the try line. Wales look to drive it on, but they will have to be patient.
5 mins Steve Hansen looks a little worried up in the gods at the Principality Stadium ... Wales have made a lightning fast start.
4 mins Biggar leads the charge as the All Blacks make another uncharacteristic error, dropping a routine ball. Beauden Barrett – just about – gets back with Biggar in pursuit. Then Sonny Bill’s in trouble and Wales earn a 5m scrum.
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2 mins Rhys Webb does well to keep the ball alive before Leigh Halfpenny takes over. Dan Biggar opts for a change of tact, with a high kick. New Zealand let it bounce but the All Blacks get away with it unscathed. Great start by Wales, counter-rucking.
1 min Wales are straight into destruction mode with a couple of crashing challenges in the maul. Waisake Naholo makes a mess of the box-kick and suddenly Wales are on the attack in the opposition 22.
Kick-off!
And we’re under way.
Back in Cardiff, deputising captain Sam Whitelock leads New Zealand through a spine-tingling Haka ...
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Over at Twickenham, England have just beaten Samoa 48-14:
The players dart out of the tunnel at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where the All Blacks are in town. We are the anthems, haka and other usual pre-match rigamarole away from kick-off. It’s going to be good ...
The teams!
Wales: Halfpenny, Amos, S Williams, O Williams, S Evans; Biggar, Webb; R Evans, Owens, Francis, Ball, A W Jones, Shingler, Navidi, Faletau
Replacements: Dacey, W Jones, Brown, Hill, Tipuric, Davies, Priestland, Roberts
New Zealand: McKenzie; Naholo, Crotty, Williams, Ione; B Barrett, Smith; Hames, Taylor, Laulala, Tuipolotu, S Whitelock, Squire, Cane, L Whitelock
Replacements: Harris, Crockett, Tu’ungafasi, S Barrett, Todd, Perenara, Sapoaga, Lienert-Brown
Preamble
Sixty-four years. Wales have not beaten the All Blacks for 64 years but might that change in Cardiff this evening? Well, Warren Gatland, for one, senses a little blood in New Zealand, insisting any “fear factor” has vanished, largely owing to the Lions’ efforts over the summer. New Zealand, though, it goes without saying remain the very best. Whether making hard work of overcoming Scotland, a recent defeat by Australia and a drawn series against the Lions on home turf in the summer suggests there’s scope to further hurt them remains to be seen.
In the meantime, follow the final stages of England v Samoa with me here:
Kick-off: 5.15pm (GMT)
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