When Wales last got the better of New Zealand, in 1953, a try earned just three points and Cardiff had not yet been named a capital city. On Saturday that piece of trivia finally lost its sting. Steve Tandy’s side, written off by bookmakers at odds of up to 20-1, won 35-28 at the Principality Stadium and snapped a run of 34 straight defeats against the All Blacks stretching back to 1953.
Wales struck fast in both halves. Scrum-half Tomos Williams pounced on a kind bounce inside two minutes and captain Dewi Lake added a second try soon after, giving the hosts a 14-0 lead. A third try from prop Archie Griffin had the stadium dreaming at 21-7, before the visitors hit back three times, the scorers being Ratima, Sititi and Fineanganofo, to go into the break at 21-21.
The restart brought another Welsh burst. Within minutes Eddie James in midfield and Louis Rees-Zammit out wide had both touched down, and fly-half Sam Costelow converted all five tries to stretch the lead to 35-21. Peter Lakai replied for the visitors, and the final half hour turned into a siege inside the Welsh 22. On three occasions a black-shirted attacker crossed the line only to be prevented from grounding the ball. The numbers tell the story: the All Blacks had about 65 percent of the ball, while Wales made 332 tackles to their 122, with flankers Jac Morgan and James Botham leading the resistance.
Greats such as Gareth Edwards and Alun Wyn Jones never managed what this group achieved. The only sour note was the crowd of 55,152, the smallest ever for the fixture at the stadium, meaning plenty of fans missed a day they will hear about for decades.
For New Zealand, captained by Beauden Barrett for the first time, the defeat is a setback but not fatal. Thanks to the Springboks losing to France on Friday, they still lead their group by a single point, but a win over England next weekend is now essential if they want to reach the final.
