Steve Tandy is not as bullish as his second-rower Dafydd Jenkins about Wales’ chances against New Zealand – and who can blame him when you look at the odds?
Despite ending their 10-test winless run at the Principality Stadium against Japan, Tandy’s men are 25-1 to end their 72-year AllBlacks curse on Saturday. When one considers that Jake Paul is 7-1 to beat Anthony Joshua, and 12-1 to knock him out in Miami next month, it highlights how unlikely it is. You can even get shorter odds for a player to score a triple-century in the Ashes or Jürgen Klopp to return to management before New Year’s Day. Tandy, the Wales head coach, has enough on his plate without handing the critics ridicule fodder.
Instead, when asked the question during his team announcement on Thursday, Tandy neatly declined to provide a direct answer, with a sidestep Shane Williams would have been proud of.
“I think it’s our performance in and around our game [that matters],” he said “It’s about the process that is going to get us to that. If you focus solely on that [the win], you forget bits that we need to put ourselves in those situations.”
Talk about saying plenty and nothing at the same time. This was in contrast to Jenkins, who on Wednesday claimed “we have a huge opportunity to cause a real upset”. The record books explain this would be beyond huge.
There are 13 changes in Scott Robertson's All Blacks side to play Wales, indicating confidence despite recent losses. Photo / Getty Images
Wales have lost 33 times in a row against this opposition and, having won just two of their last 21 tests, can surely be classed as one of the poorest Welsh teams in that period. Granted, they beat Japan last Saturday, but only by 24-23 with the last kick of the game, and Eddie Jones’ team were extremely unlucky.
Tandy was seen hugging people in delight afterwards, but five days on admitted he was “disappointed” with the overall display. And with that in mind, he has brought in Joe Hawkins at second five-eighths for Ben Thomas and reinstated Rhys Carre and Keiron Assiratti as the starting props.
Josh Adams’ ban forced the return of Tom Rogers on the wing, but it is in the back row that he made the most surprising selection. Olly Cracknell tweaked his hamstring against Japan, leaving Tandy to switch Aaron Wainwright to No 8, Alex Mann to the blindside and hand Harri Deaves his debut.
The 24-year-old is quite the character. In his early days at the Ospreys he would pull up to training in his van, telling his teammates he was off roofing as soon as the cones were put away. He has since had a pay rise and retired the ladder and tools, but has remained industrious, producing some all-action showings for his region.
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson. Photo / Photosport
Deaves has the passion and work ethic to become a crowd favourite, but standing at 6ft in his boots, he is hardly the biggest, and the Kiwis might just be licking their lips at their prospect.
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson is under pressure after their defeat at Twickenham – their third loss this year – but highlighted his confidence by naming a XV containing 13 changes.
“We are not underestimating Wales and are taking them very, very seriously,” he said.
Robertson might not be, but the bookmakers are.
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