All Blacks cruise to Bronze win over Wales

New Zealand settled for Bronze at the Rugby World Cup as they scored six tries en route to a 40-17 win over Wales in Tokyo on Friday. The result doesn’t make up for the stunning defeat to England in the Semi Final, but at least ends the tournament – and the All Blacks careers of several including coach Steve Hansen and captain Kieran Read – on a winning note.

From the start, the pace of New Zealand’s attack proved difficult to contain. A sweeping attacking move saw Read connect with Brodie Retallick, and ended with Joe Moody bursting away like a center to score the first try. Richie Mo’unga made good on the extras having missed on a penalty attempt just a couple minutes earlier.

Within no time the All Blacks were in again. Beauden Barrett stepped back in across the grain to slip through a gap and touch down under the posts. The routine conversion made it 14-0 with as many minutes on the clock.

Wales finally conjured a response just shy of the 20 minute mark. With the All Blacks defending deep in their end, a miss-out pass from Rhys Patchell found its target in Hallam Amos. The fullback finished the overlap himself, selling a dummy and diving over for a seven-pointer. Patchell added a penalty goal to bring the men in red to within four points.

That would be as close as they would get. Ben Smith closed his international career on a high, slicing through the middle and evading a handful of Welsh defenders to touch down. He made it a double on the stroke of halftime with Aaron Smith’s wide pass putting his namesake into the corner.

Within two minutes of the restart, the result was put beyond doubt. Sonny Bill Williams hit a gap and offloaded despite the attention of two tacklers to put Ryan Crotty over for the score. Mo’unga was on target with the kick and the replacements began to stream into the match.

Josh Adams would score his tournament-leading 7th try from in close to give Welsh fans something to cheer about, but it was academic only. Mo’unga wrapped up the game himself with a late try, his final kick of the day drifting just wide of the uprights.

It will be new coaches for both sides in 2020 with Warren Gatland also stepping away from Wales. New faces are sure to follow as the next World Cup cycle begins for Wales with the Six Nations in February. The All Blacks will close up shop until the new July test window with those remaining in country returning to their Super Rugby sides to fight for their place in the post-Hansen era.

 

SCORING

NEW ZEALAND 40
Tries – J. Moody (5′), B. Barrett (13′), B. Smith 2 (33′, 40′), R. Crotty (42′), R. Mo’unga (76′)
Cons – R. Mo’unga 5/6 (6′, 14′, 34′, 40′, 43′)
Pens – R. Mo’unga 0/1

WALES 17
Tries – H. Amos (19′), J. Adams (59′)
Cons – R. Patchell 1/1 (20′), D. Biggar 1/1 (60′)
Pens – R. Patchell 1/1 (27′)

 

TEAMS

NEW ZEALAND
1 Joe Moody (17 Atu Moli 56′), 2 Dane Coles (16 Liam Coltman 24′), 3 Nepo Laulala (18 Angus Ta’avao 56′), 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Scott Barrett (19 Patrick Tu’ipulotu 61′), 6 Shannon Frizell (20 Matt Todd 61′), 7 Sam Cane, 8 Kieran Read (capt.), 9 Aaron Smith (21 Brad Weber 56′), 10 Richie Mo’unga, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams (22 Anton Lienert-Brown 56′), 13 Ryan Crotty (23 Jordie Barrett 56′), 14 Ben Smith, 15 Beauden Barrett

WALES
1 Nicky Smith (17 Rhys Carré 44′), 2 Ken Owens (16 Elliot Dee 44′), 3 Dillon Lewis (18 Wyn Jones 78′), 4 Adam Beard, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt.) (19 Jake Ball 56′), 6 Justin Tipuric, 7 James Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty (20 Aaron Shingler 46′), 9 Tomos Williams (21 Gareth Davies 46′), 10 Rhys Patchell (22 Dan Biggar 46′), 11 Josh Adams, 12 Owen Watkin (23 Hadleigh Parkes 61′), 13 Jonathan Davies, 14 Owen Lane, 15 Hallam Amos

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistants: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) & Pascal Gaüzère (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)