The All Blacks' reputation as the cruellest team in world rugby remains intact.
Just ask the Welsh fans who for 70 minutes held on to the hope their side would break a 61-year losing streak against the New Zealanders before watching them succumb 34-16 as Richie McCaw celebrated captaining the All Blacks for the 100th time with a win.
Wales were tenacious and brave for most of the match played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, but when All Blacks coach Steve Hansen went to his bench at various points of the second half and urged his men to increase the speed of the game, the hosts just had no answer.
When Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked a penalty with 13 minutes remaining, he put his side ahead 16-15 and raised hopes of a major upset - albeit briefly.
Then, the All Blacks, as we have seen so often in recent seasons, looked at the clock, agreed there was plenty of time to create some carnage and with fresh legs in the engine room in the form of Joe Moody, Charlie Faumuina and Patrick Tuipulotu they took the pace to another level.
The result? Two tries to Beauden Barrett and another to Kieran Read.
Barrett didn't have his finest night in the playmaker's role but it was at fullback where he made the biggest impression.
Preferred to start at first five-eighth over Aaron Cruden, Dan Carter and Colin Slade he understood the instructions to negate the flying Welsh defence by lobbing short kicks in behind the line.
The intention was understandable, but Wales were often able to mop-up with their sweepers and in the second half Hansen went to his bench and brought Slade into first-five, told right wing Charles Piutau to hit the bench, which was tough because he had a decent night, and switched Barrett back to fullback.
That was the catalyst for the All Blacks to complete Wales' misery.
Barrett scored a fine individual try in the 70th minute when he raced into the enemy quarter and popped a speculative chip kick which beat Leigh Halfpenny and bounced back into his arms.
Then the floodgates opened-up.
No 8 Kieran Read charged down replacement halfback Mike Phillips clearing kick from a lineout and in the dying minutes Barrett scored again.
A pin-point cross-kick by Slade hit Ben Smith on the right flank and he unloaded to Barrett who will not score an easier try.
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Mistakes, the All Blacks made more than just a few. While the Welsh' hunters at the breakdown did an effective job of slowing the ball, the New Zealanders were struggling with their handling.
While referee Wayne Barnes was busy ensuring the penalty count kept ticking over, which contributed to the frustration of the tourists' chances of keeping the match flowing, there error count - for both sides - also kept rising.
Midfielder Sonny Bill Williams lost control of the ball a couple of times in the first half, replacement playmaker Slade shelled a difficult pass from Aaron Smith and even the old campaigner Conrad Smith kicked the ball out on the full. That is a rare sight.
If any fans had squeezed their eyelids together in the first half they wouldn't have missed a great deal.
Between Barrett and Halfpenney trading penalties there wasn't much to get amped about as enthusiastic defence, scrum collapses and handling errors contributed to the stoppages which marred the opening stanza.
Almost 10 minutes was wasted and the sight of Welsh players receiving medical attention for various ailments would have annoyed the New Zealanders who entered the match intent on stressing their opponents' by shifting the ball around the park at pace.
It took the power of Julian Save to set things alight, the big All Blacks left wing delicately collecting a low pass by Conrad Smith as he slipped into high gear and charged through Dan Biggar's tackle to score immediately after the halftime break.
Wales' response was as emphatic as it was impressive.
A rare foray into the New Zealanders' quarter was met by the usual black wall of resistance before No 8 Toby Faletau powerfully carried the ball into space and flicked an inside ball for halfback Rhys Webb to dart over for a try.
SCOREBOARD
All Blacks 34 (Beauden Barrett 2, Julian Savea, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read tries; Colin Slade 2 con, Barrett, con, pen) Wales 16(Rhys Webb try; Leigh Halfpenny con, 3 pen). HT: 3-3
