WALES are facing a summer of torment after Warren Gatland was humiliated by the Chiefs on his Hamilton homecoming.

The tourists are now staring down the barrel of a 5-0 whitewash after losing their pre-tour Test with England and the first encounter against New Zealand.

With the world champion All Blacks pledging to hit top gear after blowing away some cobwebs in Auckland, it will take something special to get anything from a tough summer schedule.

In fact, on the evidence of this six tries to one display against a Super Rugby side's third string, it will take something special to avoid two more thrashings.

Gatland will be fuming at the shambolic display on his return to Waikato; after the praise that the first-teamers rightly earned for their enterprising performance against the All Blacks at Eden Park comes the criticism following a shocking exhibition at FMG Stadium.

But the management team themselves will be under the microscope for the rest of the month so poor was the display in Hamilton.

Wales looked like a team who have not played together and too many players looked rusty – particularly the midfield of Scott Williams and Tyler Morgan after their injury-hit seasons – but their lack of basic skills compared to their hosts, who were with their internationals and a number of Super Rugby regulars, was alarming.

Added to that Jake Ball, a replacement at Eden Park last weekend, limped off on a nightmare evening in which nobody put their hand up for Test selection.

The Chiefs, with Stephen Donald inspirational despite hobbling around the pitch for much of the second half, were sharper of mind and deed, making rugby look so simple by winning collisions thanks to quick ball rather than bulk.

The sanity of arranging a midweek fixture had been questioned by All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and such points were given more credence when injuries to Ellis Jenkins, Ross Moriarty and Gareth Anscombe forced Gatland to name three inked-in second Test starters.

Sam Warburton started at openside with number eight Taulupe Faletau and centre Jamie Roberts among the replacements.

Wales had been forced to call on three Lions while the hosts were without eight All Blacks and several other rested Super Rugby players but they still made a rapid start after a rousing Haka.

The tourists lost lineout ball inside their own half and the Chiefs struck with a delightful eighth-minute score, fly-half Stephen Donald jinking and then offloading for half-back partner Brad Weber to dash over for a seven-pointer.

Wales then failed to take three golden opportunities to level with scrum-half Gareth Davies brought down just shy of the line after a break by full-back Matthew Morgan, wing Eli Walker unable to reach over after a jinking run from a five-metre scrum (although centre Tyler Morgan had a run-in on his shoulder) and number eight James King scragged inches short.

The host retained their lead going into the second quarter with determined defence and it got even better in the 33rd minute when, after a scrappy period from Wales, they were cutthroat with ball in hand.

With lovely skills and good ball presentation, the Chiefs worked their way into the 22 with an excellent attack that ended with number eight Tom Sanders crashing over from close range despite the efforts of Warburton and lock Jake Ball.

Donald converted for 14-0 and the Hamilton crowd were scenting a scalp, even more so after a strong finish to the half.

Just seconds after Donald had been denied a try by the TMO, who couldn’t clearly see the ball being grounded after an attack sparked by the veteran fly-half’s lovely break, the third score came and Dragons centre Tyler Morgan won’t enjoy watching the footage back.

The ball was spread wide right for lock Dominic Bird to outsmart the young midfielder far too easily with his footwork before crashing over for a try that Donald improved for 21-0 at the break.

Wales bossed things from the off after the resumption but too often were let down by the basics and it took until the 56th minute for them to make the pressure count through a driving lineout, replacement hooker Kristian Dacey at the bottom of a drive for a score that fly-half Rhys Priestland improved.

The Chiefs were blowing and Wales went straight back on the attack with replacements Faletau and Roberts making a huge difference.

Wing Eli Walker was barged into touch just short of the line and one sensed another quick score could get Wales out of jail, at least in terms of the result.

Instead the Chiefs secured the spoils with their first attack of the half with a try that once again would leave defence coach Shaun Edwards fuming with back row forwards James King and Josh Turnbull exposed as full-back James Lowe cantered over.

Donald converted for 28-7 before leaving the pitch to a rousing reception and things got even worse in the closing stages.

It was already humiliating but it got worse with a pair of breakaway tries with James Lowe and Sam McNicol getting on the scoresheet.

Wales wanted a pick-me-up ahead of Wellington. Instead they got a kicking.

Chiefs: J Lowe, T Pulu, A Lienert-Brown, A Horrell, S Vaka, S Donald (captain, L Vaeno 68), B Weber (K Hammington 71), M Graham (S Fisi’ihoi 14), R Marshall (H Elliot 40), H Yamashita (A Moli 50), D Bird, M Allardice (T Seu 26), M Brown, L Boshier, T Sanders (T Koloamatangi 61).

Scorers: tries – B Weber, T Sanders, D Bird, J Lowe, T Pulu, S McNicol; conversions – S Donald (4), A Lienert-Brown

Wales: M Morgan, E Walker, T Morgan (J Roberts ), S Williams (R Patchell 61), T James, R Priestland, G Davies (A Davies 56), R Evans (A Jarvis 50), S Baldwin (K Dacey 50), T Francis (R Jones 56), J Ball (B Davies 50), L Charteris (captain), J Turnbull, S Warburton (T Faletau 45), J King.

Scorers: try – K Dacey; conversion – R Priestland

Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)