An incredible upset for New Zealand: the legendary All Blacks suffer a defeat against Wales for the first time in 73 years
The fifth round of the Nations Championship delivered one of the most surprising results in contemporary international rugby: New Zealand was defeated by Wales, a national team that has long been in crisis and has recently faced significant challenges even at the federation level. At Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, the Welsh secured a 35-28 victory; the crowd’s eruption at the final whistle and the tears of the players in red jerseys spoke volumes about the match.
Wales got off to a blistering start and found themselves up 14-0 after six minutes thanks to tries by Tomos Williams and Dewi Lake, both converted by Sam Costelow. At the 9-minute mark, New Zealand scored its first points: Cortez Ratima’s try and Richie Mo’unga’s conversion narrowed the gap to 14–7. Wales, however, extended their lead again at the 23-minute mark with a try by Archie Griffin, once again converted by Costelow.
Before the end of the first half, however, the All Blacks struck back, scoring 14 consecutive points with tries by Wallace Sititi and Fehi Fineanganofo and conversions by Mo’unga: At halftime, the score was 21-21, and many felt that the All Blacks had finally shaken off their early struggles.
Instead, at the start of the second half, Wales regained control and scored twice more, first through Eddie James and then through Louis Rees-Zammitt (both tries converted by Costelow). New Zealand narrowed the gap with a try by Peter Lakai, converted by Mo’unga in the 52nd minute, but the remaining half-hour yielded no further points: Wales won for the fourth time in thirty-eight matches against the All Blacks and for the first time since way back in 1953.
Not even the golden generations of Barry John, JPR Williams, Gareth Edwards, or—more recently—Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, and Alun-Wyn Jones had managed to pull off this feat while wearing their national team’s jersey: the celebration can begin for what is already considered the greatest comeback after many difficult years both on and off the field.
