Dan Carter topped his own record against Wales as he scored 27 points to beat his 2005 high of 26 as the All Blacks gave Carisbrook the perfect send off after 102 years of Test rugby.
Wales raced into a 6-0 lead in Dunedin thanks to a drop goal from Stephen Jones and a monster penalty from Leigh Halfpenny. In those early exchanges, Wales bossed large parts of the game and were efficient and effective at the set-pieces.
But while the first-half was a pretty even contest, the second 40 minutes gave the Welsh side a personal insight into just why they call Carisbrook the ‘House of Pain’.
As Richie McCaw’s side increased the tempo and intensity of their game Wales began to struggle to make their tackles. It led to 27 unanswered points with the sublime Carter ghosting away for two tries.
The All Blacks grabbed two tries in the first half, the first from hooker Keven Mealamu after quick tap and go penalty from the alert Jimmy Cowan, and then went on the rampage after the break.
Wales were good value for their early lead and were unlucky when Alun Wyn Jones and Mike Phillips lost control of the ball on the fringes of a ruck on the home 10 metre line and saw Conrad Smith turn it over.
The ball went to Corey Jane on the right wing and he raced 60 metres to score. If that was a piece of good fortune for the home side, they created chance after chance in a blistering second half that saw them score 27 points without reply.
Carter dazzled his way over for two tries and replacement wing Richard Kahui split the defence for the other. Wales will now have to work on improving their defence over the next seven days before the second Test in Hamilton on Saturday.
