By Roger Childs

Inspired by dynamic number eight Wallace Sititi, it was a 34th successive victory in this fixture for the All Blacks in a winning sequence that stretches back to 1953. –Gareth Griffiths of BBC Sport

Great entertainment

A highlight of any match played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff is the singing of the Welsh anthem Land of our fathers. The players rip into it with national pride written all over their faces supported by 70,000 + fans. 

The final match of the All Blacks northern tour against Wales was a great spectacle for the crowd at the ground and the millions watching on television. The 52-26 result was a try fest with the All Blacks getting seven and the home team a creditable four. Of the fourteen shots at goal, many from the sidelines, only one was missed.

Up until early in the second half the hosts matched the visitors try for try, and at 24 – 21 they were still in the game. However the All Black ran away with it in the final quarter helped by two yellow cards against Gareth Thomas and Taine Plumtree dished out by capable Scottish referee Hollie Davidson.

Plenty of good performances.

Scott Robertson made 12 changes to the team that lost 19-33 to the English last weekend. Generally they all played creditably and first choice players Caleb Clarke and Fabian Holland, who missed the England Test, showed why they are usually first picks. Clarke scored the team’s first try and was denied a second when they were called back for an apparent knock-on way back. He also tackled very well as did Holland who also did great work in the lineout, soaring high for many clean takes.

Ruben Love was generally solid at full back and scored an excellent try early in the second spell running 30 metres after an excellent side-step to score near the posts. Samisoni Tauke’aho having his first run-on game at hooker was very impressive with accurate lineout throwing, solid tackling and strong runs with ball in hand. In the loose Wallace Sititi was back to his best form and always looked dangerous will ball in hand.

The Welsh led by the inspired Dewi Lake tackled like demons and fed off All Black mistakes to gain four tries – three to speedy left winger Tom Rogers. However, the visitors were superior in the lineouts and scrums, but until the yellow cards inevitably resulted in gaps opening up, they struggled to break through the staunch Welsh defence. 

Moving on after a mixed year

It hasn’t been a great season for the All Blacks with losses to South Africa, Argentina and England. The next World Cup is in 2027 and the selectors need to be thinking about making decisions on positions like full back, half back and first five.

The coaching team in 2025 has blooded players like Holland, Leroy Carter, Leicester Fainga-anuku, Josh Lord and Paisilio Tosi, but will need to consider discarding Anton Lienert –Brown, Rieko Ioane and Cortez Ratima. A question mark also hangs over the head of captain Scott Barrett and many pundits feel that Ardie Savea is the man for the leadership job.