Three key All Blacks were injured in the All Blacks vs Wales game this past Saturday. They are Dan Carter, who had his best Test in a very long time, as well as Israel Dagg and Anthony Boric, who are all  likely to miss the second Wales Test.

rugby365 reports as follows:

Carter, the standout performer as the All Blacks poured on 27 unanswered points in the second spell after a half-time rebuke from coach Graham Henry, is suffering from a calf strain.

The injury is not thought to be serious and he will be monitored during the week.

However, All Black coach Graham Henry said fullback Dagg (head injury) and lock Boric (cheekbone) are almost certain to miss the second Test in Hamilton next Saturday.

“They’ll both struggle to play next week, particularly Israel. He’s not very well and you need time after those head knocks to make sure you’re right and we wouldn’t risk him,” Henry said.

“Anthony has got a little stress fracture in his cheekbone and he could probably play but I wonder whether it’s worth that risk. Before I talk to the medical staff and talk to him we won’t know for sure.”

Henry said Carter would “possibly, probably” play as would centre Conrad Smith who was poked in the eye.

Wales could justifiably claim the honours were even in the first half of the Test, although they trailed 9-15 at the turn, but they failed to score a point after the break when the All Blacks exploded into action.

It was Henry’s fiery halftime speech that did the trick as his side returned to the field to run away with the match and score five tries to nil.

Halfback Jimmy Cowan, who sparked the first try by Keven Mealamu when he took a quick tap penalty close to the line, accepted the All Blacks had made a disappointing start.

“We got a fair telling off at half-time. So it was a matter of looking at what was on your left chest [the silver fern logo] and playing for the jersey and we played that second half with a different attitude,” he said.

Henry rated the overall performance as better than the emphatic 66-28 victory the previous week against Ireland when the All Blacks scored nine tries but let a 14-man Ireland score four.

“We were pleased with the second half performance. It took us a while to get there but that’s what international rugby’s about,” he said.

“We got a bit better in that second half. We played a bit more astutely and got some field position. The defence was superb too, much better than last week, and created some opportunities as well.”

Wales coach Warren Gatland, who also has manpower problems with flyhalf Stephen Jones and centre Andrew Bishop undergoing X-rays for suspected broken hands, rated the All Blacks as close to their best once they hit top gear.

“The way we played in the first half I was really pleased, and I thought we put the All Blacks under a lot of pressure. They were outstanding in the second half,” he said.

“There were some positives from the first half, but 50 minutes wasn’t good enough and we’ve got to learn to be able to sustain that intensity for 80 minutes.”