New Zealand rugby coach, Graham Henry, is expecting Wales to throw everything at his side as they look to bounce back from a 42-9 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks.
Henry’s team were in superb form over the weekend and the many current weaknesses of the Wales side were exposed. Many would have been expecting a much tighter contest after Wales took South Africa so close in their previous tour before this one.
Henry says he does not expect to make too many changes, if any, to the current team after it was clearly emphasised that they are in form and playing well. This could work to Wales’ advantage as they can identify areas of the All Black team that they need to focus on and areas of the field they need to be better in.
Wales are not a bad side, they just came up against much better opposition on this occasion. Warren Gatland is not a coach who will take this defeat lightly and it’s important that the Wales side respond well in order to keep morale high within the dressing room.
Outplayed
New Zealand outplayed Wales in every single area of the pitch. They had the heavier pack, which allowed the team to press forward on more consistent occasions. They were also able to win the ball in scrums and turn these scrums over to win themselves easy penalties and easy points.
New Zealand also had the pace to exploit the Welsh defence. This pace was key in a few of the tries where the Kiwis were able to switch the ball to the flanks very quickly. This gave them the extra space they needed to dodge a Welsh tackle and get over the line for an easy score.
The Kiwis had the better fitness, which was demonstrated late on in the game. At the interval the score was still 15-9 and the game could have gone either way. However, increased fitness levels from the New Zealand side meant that they were able to concentrate for longer periods of the game.
Next Match
Wales now have a little bit of time to regroup and look at the areas that Gatland will believe they went wrong. New Zealand picked up a couple of minor injuries during the game, which are likely to keep some of the better Kiwi players out of the team.
The Wales coach will most likely make one or two changes for the side and these changes have to be angled at weight and pace. There has to be extra strength within the Welsh numbers or they will just get bullied around the pitch all over again.
There also needs to be more pace on the field that can help track the ball when the All Blacks look to switch it out wide quickly and efficiently. This will be key in closing down all of the gaps that were starting to appear during the first test and will ultimately give Wales a bigger chance of victory.
Betting Advice
You would be very naïve to bet against New Zealand in the second match between these two countries. However, you can expect many improvements from the Wales side.
This will decrease the winning margin from over 30 points down to maybe just over ten. You will get good odds in this area if you bet now but you could alternatively wait to bet and see how the next game starts. This will allow you to make more calculated decisions and will stop you from missing out on a big Kiwi win.
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