All Black player ratings v Wales

The All Blacks closed out their year in Cardiff with an entertaining 33-18 win over Wales.

Here’s how the players rated:

15. Damian McKenzie – 7 Another good shift by DMac, with some good kicking. if he’d held onto a Naholo flick pass in the first half he would’ve scored one of the best tries of the year.

14. Waisake Naholo – 8 A man in good form, another two well taken tries. One of the better performers on the end of year tour.

13. Ryan Crotty – N/A Was looking pretty good till he got hurt, too early on to rate though.

12. Sonny Bill Williams – 7 Great on defence and used in a more direct role this week.

11. Rieko Ioane – 9 What more can you say about this guy? Again he showed why he’s considered the best winger in the world right now with two tries and a set up to ALB.

10. Beauden Barrett – 7 What was that about goal kicking? As well as slotting sideline conversions, Barrett marshalled the troops well before shifting to fullback for the last stage of the game.

9. Aaron Smith – 8 Was busy as usual, and is making a habit of linking directly with Naholo – this time twice for tries.

8. Luke Whitelock – 6 Did what he was there to do, before getting replaced early in the second half.

7. Sam Cane – 9 The All Blacks’ best. Tackled anything in a red jersey, often with brutal effect. This performance will definitely cement him as the number one openside fo next season.

6. Liam Squire – 6 Quiet game from the big man, who should be good for a decent linebreak every test match.

5. Sam Whitelock – 6 Made the right calls as skipper, and took the punishment for repeated infringements himself. Will enjoy the offseason rest, by the looks of things.

4. Patrick Tuipulotu – 6 Did his set piece role well but curiously hooked early on.

3. Nepo Laulala – 5 Pinged a couple of times at the ruck and hooked at halftime, which isn’t a good sign.

2. Codie Taylor – 6 Got embarrassed by Josh Navidi, but otherwise had a solid game – especially at set piece.

1. Kane Hames 6 Not quite the dominant force he was last week, but part of a hard-working scrum effort.

Bench:

16. Nathan Harris – N/A Not on for long enough

17. Wyatt Crockett – 6 Again came close to getting in penalty trouble but held up a seven-man scrum in the late stages.

18. Ofa Tu’ungafasi – 5 Not great at all, added little after replacing Laulala.

19. Scott Barrett – 6 Had a decent run in the second half and got stuck in.

20. Matt Todd – 7 Saved a try by tackling Faletau, which is notable because he had a hard act to follow replacing Cane.

21. TJ Perenara – 6 Did what he was there to do.

22. Lima Sopoaga – 6 Back to his role as relief first five while Barrett moves to fullback, some nice touches.

23. Anton Lienert-Brown – 8 Very good game from a guy who needed it. Was fortunate to get such a long spell on the field and made it count with a good try.