Alun-Wyn Jones: All Blacks are ‘20 minutes ahead of everybody else’

Wales star Alun-Wyn Jones believes New Zealand are "probably 20 minutes ahead of everybody else" after signing off in Europe before next year's world title defence by serving emphatic notice that they remain a class apart.

For 69 minutes of a pulsating Millennium Stadium contest, Wales dared to dream.

Having not beaten the All Blacks since 1953, mission improbable was in sight of being accomplished when Jones and company led 16-15 on the back of three Leigh Halfpenny penalties and a converted Rhys Webb try.

But New Zealand then flicked a switch that plunged Welsh hopes into darkness, scoring three tries and 19 unanswered points as a capacity 74,500 crowd saw hopes of witnessing history disappear without trace.

As against England and Scotland on their European tour earlier this month, the All Blacks failed to deliver an 80-minute performance, but it did not matter because they can win Test matches in the blink of an eye.

World Cup camp

“The scoreline showed they can just pull away in the last 20 minutes, as they have done before against other teams,” lock Jones said.

“I would say they are probably 20 minutes ahead of everybody else.

“I would like to think we can make up those 20 minutes. ‘Gats’ (Wales head coach Warren Gatland) is pretty intent on ensuring that the guys who are selected will be together for a long period before the World Cup. That will be telling in terms of where we are.

“We have one more (autumn) game, then we can review where we are.

“This was New Zealand’s last game of the year, and they have finished where they want to be. I think they will have a lot more question marks after the pressure they’ve taken in their last few games, and maybe against us to a degree, I don’t know.

“For 60 minutes, we can take quite a lot out of the game. There is a bit of me that says ‘same old,‘ but then there’s a part of me that says ‘well, actually, we were well and truly in it, when other times we have been dipping in and out’. We will go back and have a look at it.

“It’s a marginal improvement again. We are probably still a bit short, but I think post-Fiji it’s a pretty good turnaround as well.”

Worrying records

The harsh facts are, though, that Wales have still not beaten New Zealand since 1953, losing 26 successive Tests and conceding more than 850 points, while their record against the All Blacks, Australia and South Africa during Gatland's six-year reign shows a solitary win from 27 starts.

The Springboks — unbeaten against Wales since 1999 — are next up in six days’ time, with World Cup hosts England then following in a Friday night RBS 6 Nations opener on February 6.

“I am always optimistic,” Jones added.

“I’m a big believer in not looking back, but in this instance we have to take heart from the second Test out there in the summer (Wales lost 31-30 to South Africa in Nelspruit), the Australia game at the start of this month, the match against New Zealand and look forward. That is all we can do.

The New Zealand view

Meanwhile and despite the victory, New Zealand back-row colossus Kieran Read has targeted an improvement from the All Blacks at next year’s World Cup.

The reigning world champions continue to set standards that no other team can currently match, and they will undoubtedly return to Europe in 10 months’ time as red-hot tournament favourites.

Victories during the last three weekends against England, Scotland and latterly Wales might not have seen the All Blacks produce sustained vintage rugby, but it was still too much for their rivals.

No team has successfully defended the Webb Ellis Trophy during Rugby World Cup’s 27-year existence, yet few would bet against Read and company achieving that feat next autumn.

“I think we will need to be better (at the World Cup),” said the number eight, whose late try against Wales came as part of a blistering finish when New Zealand scored 19 unanswered points in seven minutes after Wales led 16-15.

“We will take a few lessons out of the teams we’ve played up here the last few weeks. We will have to adapt to who we play.

“It’s tight at the top. Anyone in the top six or seven nations are good enough. We have just to keep playing well and keep improving,” he added.