Shane Williams column: All Blacks bolstered by bench strength again

It was a case of deja vu for Wales in Wellington after another positive start against the All Blacks. Again we showed just how good we can be as we competed with the world champions for 40 minutes and dominated territory.
But New Zealand just had that ability to go up a gear again in the second period and left us chasing shadows.
I can’t fault the effort of any of the players, but it was the same old story for Wales. Shipping points in the second-half has become a real trend against Southern Hemisphere sides and Warren Gatland desperately needs to address this theme.
The replacements made the difference again. The All Blacks boast a wealth of strength in depth that has us looking south with envious eyes.
The loss of Aaron Cruden, New Zealand’s play-maker, should have hit them hard.
But then you have a player like Beauden Barrett to come off the bench, and he really changed the game, while Wales’ replacements didn’t have the same impact. Barrett looked hungry to make a difference and he did just that.
And another, Ardie Savea, came on for just his second cap and showed why he is tipped for greatness. You could argue their replacements  strengthened their side and helped fire them to those four tries in a short period of time. But Warren has not got that type of ammunition, meaning the likes of Sam Warburton and Taulupe Faletau must work doubly hard to stop the fresh legs.
Wales and New Zealand are similar sizes, but we cannot compete with them in terms of depth, especially with their imports from the South Sea Islands.
Despite another Test series defeat to a Southern Hemisphere giant, there were some big positives for the coaching staff. The endeavour to fight until the death was fantastic, and the boys who scored those late tries, Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams, really stood out again. Despite some dodgy kicking in the first period, Davies was a huge threat with ball in-hand and straightened the line well.
Seta Tamanivalu will not be allowed to forget being handed off by that huge fend in the closing stages before seeing Davies crash over. But his looped pass to set up Alun Wyn Jones was just as important. Wales have talked about being more clinical, and their use of space today was much improved.
Williams was a stand-out performer last week, and it was no different today.The Scarlets flyer looks like he has been given a new lease of life by the new and improved attacking game-plan.  He showed, no matter how big or small you are, you can still cause sides problems with angles of running and determination.
Liam has torn the New Zealand defence wide open for two weeks in a row and points to the future of our game. If we can keep on improving and getting more deadly when we get chances, then there is no reason why we can’t threaten these top sides.
I like seeing Liam at full-back, where he gets the most space, but I must say Rhys Patchell added to the backline on his first Test start.
He wants to play at outside-half, but if he keeps performing like that at full-back, it will be hard for Gatland to drop him. He has the physical stature to suit international rugby, but it was his delicate hands that allowed Wales to play with the width that was so effective in the first-half. I’m still positive that Wales can get something out of this tour, and they bounced back well after that nightmare evening against the Chiefs.
If the boys can learn to stick with the pace of the game, and make a real difference off the bench, then we can definitely cause the All Blacks more problems next week in Dunedin.
The way New Zealand clicked into gear and punished Wales should be the blueprint we follow. We’ve similar types of players in Rhys Webb and Liam Williams, and these boys should know when to put their foot on the gas to take games away from sides.
Our defence has to improve. We’ve been shipping a lot of points and Shaun Edwards would be tearing his hair out if he had any left. He feels every try we concede on an emotional level, so he will be hammering home his messages during the week, because conceding ten tries in two matches is not what he expects.
We will only get the depth we need in the squad by challenging the top sides. But we’ve got to go from challenging to winning.
It will be difficult to rectify the 60 minute problem with just a week until the final Test, but the coaching staff pride themselves on overcoming hurdles and proving people wrong.
It would be great to see Keelan Giles get some game-time to continue his development, because he was flying in the Junior World Championships before getting the call.