DUNEDIN, New Zealand // Flyhalf Beauden Barrett grabbed two tries in his 26 points as the All Blacks completed a series sweep over Wales with a 46-6 third Test victory at Otago Regional Stadium on Saturday.
Barrett, who finished the game at fullback, added points from the boot with two penalties and five conversions, while Ben Smith, George Moala, Dan Coles and Israel Dagg all scored tries as the All Blacks blew the score out in the second half.
Flyhalf Dan Biggar kicked two first-half penalties for the visitors, who had been enterprising and put the world champions under pressure in the first two Tests but ran out of steam after 12 months of constant rugby.
The All Blacks had a much better first half than they did in the first two games and underlined how dangerous they were on the counter-attack, something Wales coach Warren Gatland had hammered into his team throughout the series.
Smith and Moala’s first-half tries resulted from attacks from deep with Smith and Dagg seemingly irrepressible as they linked and put each other into space.
Moala, playing his second Test, also had a try ruled out by television official George Ayoub following another counter from the Smith-Dagg combination.
Wales, who had controlled the ball for much of the opening 15 minutes, were restricted to Biggar’s penalties.
“We came out and showed much better intent and took care of the ball,” All Blacks captain Kieran Read said. “They have come off a long season and we were pretty fired up to put on a 80-minute performance.
“It does take a while to wear sides down and we have managed to do that.”
Barrett extended the lead to 25-6 shortly after the break when he converted his own try and grabbed his second after moving to fullback after a raft of replacements.
He then set the platform for Coles’s sixth test try with a searing midfield break. Dagg scored a length of the field try four minutes after the fulltime hooter.
“The scoreboard is a fair reflection,” Wales captain Sam Warburton said. “We played well in the first two Tests but we were poor today.
“Our kick chase was bad and they got a lot of success on the counter attack. Our defence wasn’t good. We fell off a lot of tackles and things like that you can’t do that over here.
“We were definitely second best.”
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