Wales Beat the All Blacks 35-28 in Cardiff, Their First Win Over New Zealand Since 1953
Wales beat New Zealand 35-28 in the Nations Championship in Cardiff on Saturday, their first win over the All Blacks in 73 years. They scored five tries and then held New Zealand up over the line three times in the last half-hour to hold on.
Wales had won five of their 31 Tests since the last World Cup, all against teams outside the top 10, the Guardian noted. Nobody expected this.
Two fast starts
Tomos Williams scored after 90 seconds, following up Louis Rees-Zammit’s chip ahead. Captain Dewi Lake crashed over in the sixth minute, and prop Archie Griffin pushed the lead to 21-7 midway through the first half.
New Zealand clawed it back. Cortez Ratima and Wallace Sititi scored, and Fehi Fineanganofo finished a long attack more than two minutes into first-half injury time. Richie Mo’unga’s conversion made it 21-21 at the break.
Wales did it again after half-time. Eddie James scored in the left corner, then Wales turned down a kickable penalty, went for the lineout and Rees-Zammit scored from it. Sam Costelow converted all five tries, one of them from the touchline, for a 35-21 lead.
The defence that won it
Peter Lakai scored five minutes later to cut the gap to seven. After that the game was played almost entirely inside the Wales 22, Sky Sports reported, and it never broke. Jac Morgan won a turnover to end 21 phases of attack, and James Botham held up Asafo Aumua with 15 minutes left.
New Zealand had 65% of the ball. Wales made 332 tackles to New Zealand’s 122, according to the All Blacks’ own match report.
| Team | Tries | Conversions | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 5 (Williams, Lake, Griffin, James, Rees-Zammit) | 5 (Costelow) | 35 |
| New Zealand | 4 (Ratima, Sititi, Fineanganofo, Lakai) | 4 (Mo’unga) | 28 |
“1953 was the last time”
“I can’t even describe the emotions. 1953 was the last time we beat the All Blacks,” Botham told ITV. “It’s come from belief. The crowd was behind us.”
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton spoke on ITV. “To every fan, the 55,000 who put their hands in their pockets to still watch Wales, this will be so sweet,” he said. “We forget what this playing group has gone through. From Grand Slam champions to one of the longest losing streaks for a tier one nation, they were in the pits. Proud to be Welsh on a day like today.”
What it means
New Zealand had made eight changes after beating Scotland, the Guardian noted. They stay one point ahead of South Africa, who lost 21-19 to France, but now need to beat England at Twickenham next Saturday (2.10pm UK time) to stay in the race for the Nations Championship final.
Wales host Australia at the Principality Stadium on Saturday 21 November at 8.10pm. For British and Irish fans, the result is also a first look at the players who could face New Zealand on the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2029, and Wales will be in Australia for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
