Dan Carter was at his imperial best here Saturday, taking command of a 42-9 All Blacks victory over Wales in the home side's last Test at the iconic Carisbrook ground.
Carter set an individual record of 27 points against Wales, with two tries, four conversions and three penalties.
However, with Carter out of the equation it was not a performance with which the All Blacks will be overly happy as Wales proved to be a far more formidable opponents than Ireland, whom the All Blacks trounced 66-28 a week ago.
On a firm surface and with both sides willing to move the ball at every opportunity, the All Blacks held a slender 15-9 lead at half-time before Carter engineered a runaway performance in the second half.
Before a sellout crowd of 29,000 who turned out for the final match at the Carisbrook, also known as the House of Pain because visiting teams find it difficult to win there, the All Blacks outscored Wales five tries to nil.
The victory meant they have lost only five of 37 Tests at Carisbrook, while extending their all-venue winning streak against Wales to 23, dating back to 1953.
Wales looked as if they could arrest their dismal run against the All Blacks in the early stages of the match.
Throughout the first half they matched the All Blacks in the tight phases of the game, and enjoyed an advantage both in territory and possession before holding up the white flag in the second spell, when Carter ran riot.
"I was pretty pleased with the way I played, especially in the second half to turn things around was a lot of fun," the ace pivot said, attributing the turnaround to "a few stern words" from coach Graham Henry at halftime.
"A couple of key messages -- play at the right end of the field, plugging the corners and holding onto the ball -- we did that and it worked for us and we were able to get some confidence and play well after that.
"He was much happier after the game than he was at halftime."
Although disappointed with the All Blacks' first half performance, Henry expressed satisfaction with the way they finished.
"It was a very good way of saying thank you and farewell to this ground. We played superb in the second half I'm delighted the way the guys played in the second half."
Wales drew first blood with an early Stephen Jones drop goal and continued to pile on the opening pressure, blowing one chance when a charging Jamie Roberts failed to notice an unmarked Tom Prydie outside him.
The doubled their lead to 6-0 with a long Leigh Halfpenny penalty from just inside his own half before quick thinking by Jimmy Cowan turned the tide.
When the All Blacks were awarded a penalty close to the line Cowan took a quick tap to put Keven Mealamu over the line.
Carter landed the conversion and penalty before Cory Jane latched on to a turnover ball and raced 75 metres to score as the All Blacks piled on 15 points in 12 minutes.
Stephen Jones found the sticks with a close range penalty to close the gap for Wales and the All Blacks went into the dressing room at halftime with a 15-9 lead.
Whatever coach Graham Henry said in the shed had the desired effect as Carter returned to the field to orchestrate a golden period of 20 unanswered points.
He landed two penalties and scored two exceptional tries igniting the first from his own line when he chose to run the All Blacks out of trouble.
He sensed space down the left flank and set winger Joe Rokocoko away, before looming up to finish off the move at the other end of the field.
Minutes later Carter took the ball on the 40-metre line and turned the Welsh defence inside out as he sprinted untouched to the line.
It was a sign for the Welsh to capitulate and All Blacks replacement centre Richard Kahui came on to score for Carter to add one final conversion.
The second and final Test in the series will be played in Hamilton next Saturday.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
