New Zealand 29
Wales 10
Having shown the rapier, the All Blacks delivered the bludgeon to slowly bash the resistance out of the Welsh last night.
It was a bit like watching a mandarin being opened with a hammer - each blow split the skin more, the damage increasingly obvious and the outcome inevitable.
Wales
had only half the spirit of last week and even less ambition. They knew the win was beyond them; their only goal was to keep the score respectable.
The All Blacks appeared to sense that - and were content on trialling for the tougher challenges ahead. They kicked too much ball away in the first half, almost because that is probably how they will have to play in the Tri Nations.
When they did keep it in hand, it was over to the forwards to cause the damage. The last two weeks were all about the backs - the hair-conscious dash and flash men who had all the space they needed to show their world-class status.
That space was harder to find against the defence-minded Welsh. It had to be worked for; the victory was ground out through the boot of Dan Carter who kicked the All Blacks into an unassailable lead shortly after the break.
Such was the All Blacks' domination of possession and territory, the penalties flowed. Wales had little choice but to scrabble illegally; to dander to each lineout; to drag their chain every chance they got to slow things down and stop the All Blacks finding the flow and rhythm so lethal in Dunedin.
They managed their goal. Even when Adam Thomson came on at lock to add some energy and go-forward, the All Blacks couldn't quite click.
The ball retention wasn't quite there and they overdid the inside channel - losing the element of surprise in their efforts to attack inside ball close to the ruck.
It didn't help that Sam Whitleock was yellow carded for having the audacity to defend himself when he was thumped by Gavin Thomas.
It made the game turgid and if it hadn't been for the magic of Cory Jane - one bad pass aside - and Zac Guildford's hunger for work, there really wouldn't have been anything to remember. Maybe the comic way Wales butchered a try on 75 minutes when Jonathan Davies was held up - bettered only by McCaw's refusal to pass to Piri Weepu a few minutes later.
The main positive was the collective effort of the pack and the desire to play a forward-focused game, where they were given full encouragement to get their hands on the ball and pick and go. It's a skill New Zealand teams did well throughout Super 14 and one that will be utilised more in the Tri Nations.
When the All Blacks persisted with low body positions in the last 10 minutes of the first half, they sapped the Welsh. Physically it was exhausting for the visitors to make endless tackles. Mentally, it deflated them realising the All Blacks had more to them than just the turnover-counter-attack double punch plan they used in the first test.
Jimmy Cowan was in his element navigating the direction and intensity of the drives. He's not the quiet, retiring sort and a couple of times he dived into the throng, grabbed one of his forwards and threw him into a better position.
For all the doubts expressed on Cowan's lack of a running game, he's proven his value these last few weeks in the way he has bossed and organised and taken tactical control.
He played things cleverly last night, too, in the way he kicked, kicked and kicked - then ran up the guts when the Welsh felt he carried no threat.
In the coming weeks, Cowan's leadership and influence will become even greater. Perhaps just to see if they could, the All Blacks set up a hugely effective driving maul just before halftime. They kind of looked like they knew what they were doing - direction, patience and control suggested they have been practising.
When it was collapsed a yard short from the line, the forwards looked expectantly at skipper Richie McCaw in the hope he would order the lineout so they could have another crack. McCaw was tempted, then seemingly thought it would be better to keep this new part of the All Black game plan a mystery until the big boys arrive.
It was the effective driving that set-up the first try when the All Blacks drove for 40 metres into the right corner, sucking the Welsh defence to all the wrong places, leaving acres of room for Benson Stanley to play Cory Jane into a gaping hole.
It was simple rugby - clever, dynamic and aggressive.
New Zealand 29 (C. Jane. A. Cruden tries; D. Carter 5 pens, con; P. Weepu con)
Wales 10 (J. Roberts try; L. Halfpenny pen; S. Jones con).
