Wales ended a 73-year wait for a victory over New Zealand on Saturday, beating the All Blacks 35-28 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff in a nine-try Nations Championship match. Steve Tandy’s side broke a 34-match losing sequence in the fixture that dated to 1953, leading 14-0, 21-7 and 35-21 before sealing the result with a defensive stand that repeatedly stopped New Zealand at the line.
Wales scored five tries, all converted by Costelow, through scrum-half Tomos Williams, captain Dewi Lake, prop Archie Griffin, center Eddie James and wing Louis Rees-Zammit. New Zealand replied with tries from scrum-half Cortez Ratima, number eight Wallace Sititi, wing Fehi Fineanganofo and flanker Peter Lakai, with Mo’unga adding four conversions. The teams were level at 21-21 at halftime.
A rare victory built on a fast start
Wales had won the first three meetings in the fixture in 1905, 1935 and 1953, then waited more than seven decades for another. In 1953, the New Zealand dollar did not exist, Cardiff was not the capital city of Wales and tries were worth only three points. Legends such as Sir Gareth Edwards, Alun Wyn Jones, Shane Williams, JPR Williams, Barry John and Phil Bennett never beat New Zealand in a Welsh jersey. Tandy’s class of 2026 now has its own place in that history.
Parts of the New Zealand media had belittled Welsh rugby before the game, and some bookmakers offered odds of 20-1 on a Wales victory. The crowd of 55,152 was the lowest in the 14 matches between the teams at Principality Stadium. Those who stayed away missed a day that supporters who were present will long remember, as Welsh rugby sought to use a famous result to lift the national game after a long period of struggle on and off the field.
Wales made four changes to the side that beat Japan 28-21 the previous weekend. Taine Basham made his first Test start in four years, replacing the injured number eight Aaron Wainwright. Leicester wing Gabriel Hamer-Webb was preferred to Josh Adams, who had scored two tries against Japan, while lock Adam Beard and flanker James Botham came in for Ben Carter and Alex Mann. New Zealand made eight starting changes from the team that beat Scotland 43-21, and full-back Beauden Barrett was handed the Test captaincy for the first time in his 149th international.
Wales lead 14-0 inside six minutes
The haka provided the usual pre-match theatre, with the All Blacks lit by a spotlight and Wales in red. The hosts reacted quickest once play began. Prop Nicky Smith won a turnover, and an excellent long pass from Tomos Williams released Rees-Zammit. The wing chipped ahead, and Williams, whom New Zealand coach Dave Rennie had identified as a pre-match danger, pounced for the opening try. Wales followed with a well-worked forward move, and captain Lake latched onto a flat pass from Williams to crash over. It was the first time Wales had led New Zealand by 14 points, and the home crowd began to dream.
New Zealand looked shaken but regrouped, and Ratima strolled over for an easy try from an attacking line-out. Rennie had said before the match that his side needed to eliminate Morgan’s threat at the breakdown, but New Zealand failed to do so when the Wales flanker forced a turnover penalty. That gave Wales the platform for New Zealand-born full-back Blair Murray to release Rees-Zammit, with only good defensive work from Beauden Barrett preventing another try. New Zealand’s defense kept Wales out with important turnovers before a breathless spell in which both sides threw wild passes.
Once play settled, New Zealand chose an unusual route after being awarded a penalty in the Wales 22, opting for a scrum. The decision backfired when the visitors were penalized, giving the hosts fresh momentum. Wales’s line-out, which had broken down against Japan with six throws going astray, was excellent in the opening quarter and provided the foundation for the third try. After center Max Llewellyn was initially denied under the posts, prop Griffin appeared to score his second try in two weeks.
New Zealand learned from its earlier error by choosing an attacking line-out rather than a scrum, and Sititi, player of the match in this fixture 12 months earlier, eventually dived over. The All Blacks showed their stubbornness at the breakdown by forcing two penalties, while the home line-out began to creak with two overthrows. New Zealand began to grind forward, and wing Fineanganofo flopped over with Mo’unga’s conversion leveling the score at 21-21 at halftime.
Wales refuse to follow the familiar script
The second half began with Wales again on the front foot. Scrum-half Williams was the architect once more, his long pass allowing James to crash over. Morgan tormented New Zealand again to force another turnover penalty, and Wales decided to go for the try rather than a kick at goal. The choice was justified when Williams’s long pass allowed Rees-Zammit to cross for the fifth try, the highest number Wales has scored against New Zealand. Wales had scored two tries inside the first six minutes of the first half and a pair inside eight minutes of the second.
New Zealand regrouped again, and flanker Lakai burrowed over as the All Blacks came within seven points. Lakai almost inspired a fifth New Zealand try with a fine break, but replacement prop Gareth Thomas expertly held up Sititi over the Wales line, and Botham repeated the feat on hooker Asafo Aumua. Replacement Wales number eight Taine Plumtree gained two important turnovers before Tandy decided to remove half-backs Williams and Costelow, with Ospreys pair Dan Edwards and Reuben Morgan-Williams tasked with seeing out the final 16 minutes.
Morgan-Williams and Morgan combined to hold up New Zealand for a third time over the line, but the All Blacks onslaught kept coming. Wales dug deep once more, drawing on reserves of strength, discipline and concentration to repel the black wave. The final quarter was led by flankers James Botham and Jac Morgan and lock Dafydd Jenkins. The final whistle delivered the win the side and the nation had waited for so long, reducing players and fans alike to tears of joy.
This was one of the finest performances in Welsh rugby history and a world apart from the 28-21 win against Japan the previous weekend. New Zealand may regret failing to take advantage of France’s victory against South Africa on Friday night, but the All Blacks still leapfrogged the Springboks to top the southern section with one weekend of regular matches remaining.
Line-ups and match officials
Wales: Murray; Rees-Zammit, E James, Llewellyn, Hamer-Webb; Costelow, Tomos Williams; N Smith, Lake (capt), Griffin, D Jenkins, Beard, Botham, Morgan, Basham. Replacements: Elias, G Thomas, D Lewis, Carter, Plumtree, Morgan-Williams, Edwards, Hennessey.
New Zealand: B Barrett (capt); Fineanganofo, Tupaea, Lienert-Brown, Moorby; Mo’unga, Ratima; Bower, Aumua, Newell, S Barrett, Lord, Segner, Lakai, Sititi. Replacements: Bell, Numia, Tosi, Hannah, E Blackadder, Fainga’anuku, Preston, R Ioane.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France). Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) and Luc Ramos (France). Television match official: Tual Trainini (France). Foul Play Review Officer: Leo Colgan (IRFU).