Wales End 73 Years of Hurt With Stunning 35-28 Win Over the All Blacks in Cardiff

CARDIFF — Wales ended 73 years of hurt at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, beating New Zealand 35-28 in the Nations Championship for a first victory over the All Blacks since 1953.

In front of 55,152 supporters under the closed roof, the win ended a run of 34 consecutive defeats against New Zealand and was only the fourth Welsh win in a rivalry that began in 1905. Wales scored five tries, the most they have ever managed against the All Blacks, and the seven-point margin was their biggest in the fixture. Their previous win had come 13-8 at Cardiff Arms Park on 19 December 1953.

Wales set the tone from the first whistle and never trailed. Scrum-half Tomos Williams scored after just 88 seconds, after Louis Rees-Zammit had chipped over the top, and captain Dewi Lake crashed over from a lineout maul four minutes later to make it 14-0. New Zealand hit back through scrum-half Cortez Ratima, but prop Archie Griffin powered over in the 23rd minute to stretch the lead to 21-7. The All Blacks refused to fold, and tries from Wallace Sititi and Fehi Fineanganofo, the winger scoring his first Test try long after the half-time siren, dragged them level at 21-21 at the break.

Wales started the second half exactly as they had the first. Centre Eddie James crossed in the 44th minute and Rees-Zammit finished in the 48th, both converted by fly-half Sam Costelow, who kicked five from five all afternoon. At 35-21 the stadium believed. Flanker Peter Lakai replied for New Zealand from a tap penalty in the 53rd minute, but nobody scored again in the final 27 minutes.

The defence was the story of the day. The official Nations Championship chart credited Wales with 346 tackles, a record tally for the fixture, with lock Dafydd Jenkins making 36, flanker Jac Morgan 31 and James Botham 30. Botham was named player of the match. New Zealand, who enjoyed about 65 percent of the ball and made 16 visits to the Welsh 22, were held up over the try line three times in the last half hour, with Sititi stopped by Gareth Thomas, Xavier Numia by Botham and Leicester Fainga'anuku by Dan Edwards.

It was a result nobody outside the Welsh camp had dared to predict. Wales had lost a record 18 straight Tests before July last year, finished last in the Six Nations, and had not beaten a top-eight side since the 2023 World Cup. Last weekend they had only narrowly beaten Japan 28-21, while New Zealand had beaten Wales by double figures in their last 13 meetings, and bookmakers had Wales at 20-1.

Head coach Steve Tandy, the first Wales coach to beat New Zealand, praised his players. "It was an unbelievable performance from the boys," Tandy told Welsh broadcaster S4C. "We spoke about attacking, building the performance and being brave. When New Zealand were coming back after halftime it would have been easy to doubt yourselves, but I thought the boys attacked it."

Captain Dewi Lake said the grim mood around Welsh rugby had fuelled the side rather than weighed it down. "I think the bad times drive you to want more," Lake told S4C. "Last week's scrutiny was well deserved. We had a few difficult chats in the week." Tandy deflected the praise towards his players and supporters. "It's not about me but the players and the supporters," he said. "The effort the boys have put in over the last 15 months or so, they got what they deserved."

New Zealand coach Dave Rennie, in his first year in charge after taking over from Scott Robertson, had made 10 changes to the side that beat Scotland 43-21 a week earlier. Ardie Savea is out for the rest of the year, Codie Taylor and Damian McKenzie were rested, and Will Jordan has a hamstring injury. Beauden Barrett captained the All Blacks for the first time, in his 149th Test, moving past Richie McCaw's 148 caps, with only Sam Whitelock's 153 ahead of him. Richie Mo'unga, back from a calf injury, kicked four conversions from four. French referee Pierre Brousset took charge.

Rennie refused to hide behind the selection changes. "We had a good enough side to win," he said. "We started both halves poorly and conceded 14 points quickly. But give credit to Wales, they were really clinical when they got their chances and then defended for massive periods. They were the better side tonight." Full-back Beauden Barrett summed up the visitors' frustration: "It felt like a brick wall at times. It's a tough one to take, particularly when we were building pressure and couldn't convert."

The defeat shook up the race for the Nations Championship final again. South Africa, the only other unbeaten side after four rounds, had lost 21-19 to France in Paris on Friday night. New Zealand still lead the Southern Hemisphere table, but by a single point from South Africa, with 22 points to the Springboks' 21. The All Blacks took two bonus points from Cardiff, and a bonus-point win over England at Twickenham next Saturday would put them in the final on 29 November. South Africa face Ireland in Dublin that weekend.

For Wales, the prize is momentum and belief. They host Australia at the Principality Stadium next Saturday, and a side that was second-to-last in the northern pool and written off before kick-off now has a famous win to build on. At full time, the players posed for a photograph on the field and did a lap of honour. It was, one American broadcaster said, the biggest upset in Test rugby since Japan beat South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.