adminThe All Blacks posted a convincing 33-10 victory over the Welsh at the Millennium Stadium, Aaron Cruden kicking 18 points to go with three tries from Liam Messam, Tony Woodcock and
Luke Romano to consign the home side to a 25th consecutive defeat by New Zealand.
Wales were 26-0 down shortly after the break, but scored two tries through Scott Williams and Alex Cuthbert in a late fightback.
“What I like about this team is that they want to play rugby,” Hansen said of the All Blacks, dubbing them “humble”.
“We were pretty clinical for the first 60-65 minutes. We did things pretty well and took our opportunities.
“In the last 20 minutes, we lost our way a bit and kicked away a bit too much ball. But overall, it’s our second-last game of the season and it’s pretty good.”
Hansen, who coached Wales from 2002-4, praised Cruden for stepping up to the plate after coming in as a late replacement for usual playmaker Dan Carter.
Hansen called Wales’ decision not to go for goal, instead kicking for the corner, “crazy”.
“I’m not sure why Wales did not want to take their points, I’m sure that is something that they will talk about after. Maybe they didn’t feel they had to against us? I don’t know if their kicker would get them, but points on the table makes the game tougher.”
Captain and flanker Richie McCaw, man-of-the-match after another dominant display at the breakdown, credited Wales with not buckling.
“They fronted up. It was a good physical battle and one of the more physical I’ve been involved in for a while,” he said.
“They stuck to their guns, but we didn’t help by giving them some ball to attack with. But to win by 23 points in a place like this is a great result.”
Hansen added: The World Cup was massive for him, but we want him to pack an empty bag and disappear. He needs a lot of “me-time” without being in the spotlight.
“I don’t know where he can go where no one knows him, but we’ll find somewhere and buy him a ticket.”
Meanwhile, Australia coach Robbie Deans admitted rugby’s north-south divide is shrinking after Italy took the Wallabies to within three points of a major upset in a 22-19 win for the visitors on Saturday.
Australia came to Florence, Italy, the scene of a 32-14 win over the Italians in 2010, on the back of an encouraging 20-14 win over England at Twickenham which made amends for a 33-6 thrashing to France a fortnight ago.
However, Deans and Australia are likely to come under fresh scrutiny after conceding 13 points in a barren second half which almost gave Italy their first victory over the former world champions. — AFP.
Online Reporter