Saturday's result may have been infinitely tiresome in its oh-so-predictable cruelty, but after watching the second quarter-final, it's hard not to conclude that Wales have dodged a bullet. They'll go home with praise ringing in their ears, and the usual "still didn't win though" caveats will seem pretty hollow, given the ridiculous handicaps they were under. Would it really be worth staying around another week in their besieged field hospital, just for the dubious honour of playing tackle-bags to that imperious All Blacks side? The damage to morale - not to mention personnel - could have been huge.
As it stands - and provided they can get at least a majority of the casualties back in place in time - Wales will be looking forward to the 2016 Six Nations with some relish. Ultimately futile heroics at the 2011 World Cup lent Wales a momentum that brought a 6N Grand Slam in 2012. The growth that has been evident in this beleaguered Welsh squad over the last few weeks may reasonably be expected to translate to the "home front" in similar fashion.
No-one would deny that problems remain for Gatland's Wales to solve. But team spirit is demonstrably not among them.
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