Certain things are destined never to change and Wales’s results against the All Blacks are seemingly one such phenomenon. Although they won three out of their first four encounters up until 1953 Wales have not been able to raise a smile in celebration since then in a sequence spanning 56 years and 21 fixtures.

Next June they will travel to New Zealand for two internationals with one provincial game — against Waikato — and this trend, ominously, is likely to go unchanged despite their fine play at present. Make no mistake about it, Wales, under the astute guidance of Warren Gatland and his assistants, are once more a regularly competitive team. They have rediscovered a reputation they had managed to let slip.

Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s they conveyed the impression of being cannon fodder, making their loyal supporters wonder not what the result might be but rather how many points their opponents might accumulate.

Cast your eyes down the scoresheet and half-centuries were not unknown. Respect for their play had all but vanished and a second-division status beckoned. Not so any more. They have regained their competitive and steely edge. Yet they cannot get one over New Zealand, the most historically emblematic of their foes ever since the series began in controversial circumstances with — so New Zealand believe — a denied try in 1905. Wales have grown substantially under Gatland, literally and figuratively. Their stature has been reassessed, while physically they are as well equipped as any of the international teams.

So where does this leave them?

In need of the mental toughness and the relentless will to win as expressed by New Zealand on Saturday. These qualities course in an All Blacks heart and the mind instinctively knows what is required to numb the senses and smother the ambition of others, especially in the northern hemisphere where, from generation to generation, the purpose needs to be prompted and the impetus learnt once more. Wales lost their grip on this during their empty, lost years.

Nothing categorises New Zealand’s strength of will better than their play after the interval. Time and again we see the All Blacks emerge for the second half as if newly stimulated. It is always a crucial time.

Wales, who had enjoyed the better of the possession and territory in the first half on Saturday, if lacking on occasions the assured skills, faced the urgency of the All Blacks in full throttle.

If there was a hint of a chance of regaining possession at the breakdown, they ran headlong and with breakneck speed to make certain they did win it. Any suggestion that they were close to the tryline and they sped hotfoot forward, dispatching bodies hither and thither — not always legally I might add as great leniency was the order of the day and obstruction rife — with Wales breathlessly attempting to hold a disciplined defensive line. This, to Wales’s credit, they did as indicated by the referee’s two calls during this time, when the All Blacks believed they scored, for an adjudication to come from the television room upstairs.

If the teams are equal in physical proportions, and in the speed which they cover the ground, the telling factor lies in New Zealand’s hunger for the ball and their desire to settle the score. To inherit such a mood is Wales’s next hope. They need a sharper will.