Three down, one to go, but Wales are looking more like a damp squib than a tour finale as the All Blacks head down the home stretch.

Toby Robson

As the All Blacks turned their blow-torch attack on Ireland with a 38-18 win in Dublin, Warren Gatland’s woeful Welshmen could manage only a 16-16 draw against Fiji in Cardiff.

In reality, the grand slam schedule would have held more appeal had it been played in reverse order with a now match-hardened England lying in wait at Twickenham.

The question is why the All Blacks are so dominant in Europe? They have lost just one Test in the northern hemisphere in Graham Henry’s reign and it was not a tour match, but the 2007 World Cup quarter-final. On end of year tours, Henry is 23 Tests, 23 wins since 2004.

South Africa cannot do it losing to Scotland just a week after the All Blacks made them look like a second division club side. Nor can Australia, demolished a week earlier by England, then humiliated by Munster.

Captain Richie McCaw often talks about the importance of taking opportunities to score, and teams in the north tend to present them in the form of a fumble, a poor pass, a miskick or a bad option.

In five-eighth Dan Carter, the All Blacks have a brilliant player, but it is across the board that the New Zealand team has an ability to see space. When the numbers don’t match the All Blacks pounce.

It is difficult to believe these nations are not physically conditioned in a similar way to the All Blacks. Physically, there might be no northern equivalents to Sonny Bill Williams or Hosea Gear, but it’s their skill not size that is feared.

The backs clean rucks with the same efficiency as the forwards, and the forwards can throw passes off either side like the backs. Unlike the South Africans, the All Blacks often offload in the tackle and, unlike Australia, the pack are happy to indulge in an arm-wrestle if the pitch conditions dictate.

It is a mix that takes European sides well out of their comfort zone. They seem unsure whether to copy the All Blacks, or try to impose their own style of play.

Either way it is hard to see Wales doing either in a week’s time when Henry will likely grab another grand slam.