New Zealand 37 Wales 14:It was a reasonably comfortable victory for last year's beaten finalists, the foundation for which was laid in the opening 12 minutes when New Zealand crossed for three tries, all from powerful outside centre Robert Fruean.
His hat-trick was facilitated by some brittle Welsh defence, symptomatic of what proved a very tentative start by the team from the Principality.
They seemed cowed by their opponents and it wasn't until the Kiwis made some rank errors of their own that the Welsh regathered their composure.
The losers' two tries were directly attributable to wild and ill-directed New Zealand handling, the first allowing Welsh outhalf Gareth Owen to race over on 35 minutes and the second drawing the biggest roar of the early evening. Loosehead prop Ryan Bevington demonstrated a tremendous turn of foot to outpace the cover from 40 metres.
The Welsh will take heart from the fact they edged the scrums, but a misfiring lineout was a major handicap during the 70-plus minutes.
The Kiwis mauled the ball powerfully and were technically proficient, and in Fruean and their diminutive left wing Kade Poki they had the game's most potent runners.
Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Fruean try, 5-0; 8: Fruean try, Renata con, 12-0; 12: Fruean try, 17-0; 28: Owen try, Halfpenny con, 17-7; 35(+3): Renata pen, 20-7 (half-time 20-7); 46: Poki try, 25-7; 51: Bevington try, D Evans con, 25-14; 57: Crotty try, Kirkpatrick con, 32-14; 70: Braid try, 37-14.
NEW ZEALAND: I Dagg; Z Guilford, R Fruean, R Crotty, K Poki; T Renata, W Ngaluafe; R Ah You, Q MacDonald, B Akeaki; C Smith (capt), S Whitlock; P Saili, J Hardie, L Manu. Replacements: A Dixon for MacDonald, D Kirkpatrick for Renata (both 50 mins); P Fa'anunu for Ah You, L Braid for Hardie (both 57 mins); W Stanley for Fruean, S Maitland for Poki (both 59 mins); N Barrett for Afeaki (69 mins). Sinbinned: R Fruean (24 mins)
WALES: D Evans; J Norris, L Ford, R Williams, L Halfpenny; G Owen, R Webb; R Bevington, H Dowden, P Palmer; N White, J Turnbull; S Warburton (capt), N Cudd, L Phillips. Replacements: J Egan for Halfpenny (43 mins); J Groves for Phillips (50 mins); P Price for Bevington (51 mins); G Williams for Webb (55 mins); B Roberts for Dowden (58 mins); D Langdon for Owen (65 mins). Sinbinned: D Langdon (65 mins).
Referee: J Pritic (Australia).
