Wales beat the All Blacks 35-28 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, ending a 73-year wait for victory over New Zealand in one of the greatest upsets in rugby history.
The win, in round five of the Nations Championship, was Wales’ first over New Zealand since 19 December 1953, when they won 13-8 at Cardiff Arms Park. It ended a run of 34 straight defeats stretching across seven decades and was only the fourth Welsh victory in 39 meetings between the sides.
Wales scored five tries to New Zealand’s four in a nine-try thriller, racing into an early lead, surrendering it before half-time, surging clear again and then holding out against a ferocious late assault on their own line.
FAKTA
- Result: Wales 35-28 New Zealand
- Competition: Nations Championship 2026, round five
- Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
- Date: Saturday, 14 November 2026
- Half-time: 21-21
- Wales tries: Tomos Williams, Dewi Lake, Archie Griffin, Eddie James, Louis Rees-Zammit; Sam Costelow kicked all five conversions
- New Zealand tries: Cortez Ratima, Wallace Sititi, Fehi Fineanganofo, Peter Lakai; Richie Mo’unga kicked all four conversions
- Referee: Pierre Brousset
- History: first Wales win over the All Blacks since 1953; five tries is the most Wales have ever scored against New Zealand; the seven-point margin is their biggest winning margin in the fixture
A dream start in Cardiff
Wales could hardly have imagined a better opening. Tries from Tomos Williams and Dewi Lake put the home side 14-0 ahead inside six minutes, and when Archie Griffin crossed for the third try Wales led 21-7 after 25 minutes.
New Zealand, as great teams do, hit back. The All Blacks fought their way level at 21-21 by half-time, and the familiar pattern of Welsh heartbreak against this opposition seemed ready to repeat itself.
Wales scored five tries against New Zealand, the most they have ever managed in the fixture. (Watan News)
Wales beat All Blacks with a defence that would not break
Instead, Wales came out for the second half and scored again. Eddie James and Louis Rees-Zammit both crossed, and although Peter Lakai’s try made it 35-28 in the 53rd minute, no further points were scored.
What followed was a defensive stand for the ages. New Zealand threw wave after wave at the Welsh line in the closing stages, but Steve Tandy’s side held firm, and when the ball was booted into touch at full-time the Principality Stadium erupted.
Wales player James Botham told ITV afterwards: “I can’t even describe the emotions. 1953 was the last time we beat the All Blacks.”
What the win means
The result shook up the standings. New Zealand missed the chance to overtake South Africa at the top of the Southern Hemisphere table, and the Springboks returned to number one in the world rankings. New Zealand still lead their side of the Nations Championship by a point, and a bonus-point win over England at Twickenham on 22 November would put them in the final.
For Wales, the scale of the turnaround is hard to overstate. They had won only five of their 31 Tests since the last World Cup, all against teams outside the world’s top 10, and had scraped past Japan 28-21 in Cardiff only a week earlier. By the rankings gap between the teams, 15.89 points, it ranks as a bigger upset than Japan’s famous win over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.
Wales now host Australia at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 21 November, with a famous victory behind them and belief restored.
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