How the world’s media reacted to the All Blacks’ 52-26 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
Steffan Thomas, Wales Online
The 52-26 final score in favour of the All Blacks doesn’t paint the prettiest picture for Welsh rugby, but in the context of the past 18 months, Steve Tandy’s side certainly took a few steps forward.
In 2003, Wales faced the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup in Sydney where Steve Hansen’s side were similarly written off by all and sundry. They didn’t win but a side inspired by the legendary Shane Williams sparked life back into Welsh rugby and laid the foundations for the 2005 Six Nations Grand Slam.
The clash of 2025 at the Principality Stadium fell well short of those heights in the end but it may prove to be a launchpad to better things.
Wales are still a long way off becoming a top Test side but this was the first time in a long while they offered some hope, something to hold on to.
This autumn was always going to be painful for Wales who were down and out on the canvas when Steve Tandy took over.
To turn Wales from chumps to winners in a matter of weeks was always unrealistic but this was a step in the right direction for Tandy’s side.
While still miles away from beating the top sides in world rugby this performance has at least given Welsh rugby something to build on.
The harsh reality is there was only ever going to be one winner and Wales were clearly second best, but they at least asked questions of the All Blacks.
Wales succeeded in putting far more of their game on the park and were better in most aspects of play.
James Corrigan, Daily Telegraph
If it is easy to be negative, then it is even more difficult to be positive about a team losing for the 34th consecutive time against the same opposition.
Yet Wales were, in stages anyway, rather heroic in this defeat and despite shipping more than 50 points against the All Blacks for the third time in a row here in Cardiff, there is some hope on which to cling.
And even though they were not able to open the record books for the reason the Principality Stadium had been praying, at least Tom Rogers grabbed a piece of rich history for himself. The wing – who was only playing because of Josh Adams’ ban – became the first Welshman to score three tries in a Test against New Zealand.
After the Scarlet completed his hat-trick, with 30 minutes to play Wales were only three points down and a capital citadel in full voice had every right to dream about the 25-1 outsiders at last ending that 72-year barren run against the Kiwis.
But then, as it tends to under severe All Black pressure, Welsh discipline snapped, losing two players to the bin in the space of 10 minutes – and the dam burst. The visitors motored across the whitewash for four more tries, as they finished a middling season on a high note.
For Wales fans, there was a stunning late Louis Rees-Zammit try to take into the chilled Cardiff air. And perhaps a measure of optimism as well, before world champions South Africa come calling next weekend.
Andy Bull, The Guardian
Another week, another Welsh defeat. This latest one was 52-26 and, if you missed it, it will look like just another in their long list of losses to New Zealand, which now stretches back 34 matches to 1953.
But it’s just possible, too, that, for the men who coached it and played in it, for the tens of thousands in the ground, and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, it may yet come to stand for something more significant than that. Wales did not turn a corner, but they took a little look around one and got a glimpse of what the future might look like with Steve Tandy in charge.
Three times, the All Blacks stretched ahead by scoring a try, the first of them three minutes in, and three times the Welsh managed to haul their way back by scoring one of their own almost straight away.
The [first three] tries were all finished by Scarlets’ wing Tom Rogers, who became the first Welshman to score a hat-trick against New Zealand. But they belonged just as much to his teammates, especially Tomos Williams, who made one with a tricky grubber kick, Louis Rees-Zammit, who set up another with a superb catch, and Joe Hawkins, who made the third with a fine long pass.
Five minutes into the second half, it was 24-21, only the one penalty kick by Damian McKenzie between the teams. Two of New Zealand’s three tries came from lineouts, one a simple finish by Caleb Clarke, the other an even simpler one by Tamaiti Williams off the back of a driving maul. The other was a brilliant finish by Ruben Love, who slipped through a gap in the defence with the help of a dummy and a step, and sprinted 30m to score.
It was about now that New Zealand slipped into a higher gear. They scored three tries in 10 minutes. Two were disallowed, one for a knock-on, another after replays showed Rogers had just managed to hold up the ball. But the third, which wasn’t awarded because the referee suspected there had been a knock-on from a crossfield kick, was given to Rieko Ioane after replays on TV.
From then on, things started to fall apart. First, Gareth Thomas was sent to the sin-bin, then just as he was coming back on, Taine Plumtree went off too.
New Zealand scored three more in the final quarter, two by Sevu Reece. But Wales did manage to pull another back, after some superb work by Blair Murray and Louis Rees-Zammit. The stadium came alive then, even though their team was trailing, they were proud to have something to shout about, and a sight of the first stirrings of improvement against one of the world’s best teams.
Stephen Jones, The Times
We must tread carefully here. Wales played with a vast and sustained passion, light years ahead of their performance levels that saw off Japan with the last kick last week. Players such as Dafydd Jenkins and Taine Plumtree up front played magnificently and the Welsh centre partnership of Joe Hawkins and Max Llewellyn looked like the real thing – at long last, because Wales have been fumbling in midfield.
Furthermore, Louis Rees-Zammit was lively and courageous. Wales managed four tries against the All Blacks’ defence, all of them fine efforts and three from Tom Rogers on the left wing – the first Welsh hat-trick against the All Blacks.
Indeed, at one stage early in the second half after Wales had scored a brilliant try through Rogers, it was back to 21-24, and it remained so for a long period after two All Black touchdowns were correctly ruled out by the Television Match Official.
It is also relevant to point out that Wales were penalised heavily by referee Hollie Davidson, yet still their energy was obvious and more than 68,000 people escaped the feel-bad factors in Welsh rugby at present and came to watch, supporting uproariously.
And now for the issues. First, the administrators making a horrible, secretive and total hash of Welsh rugby’s future, have not gone away. You could see them lurking in the stands, many of them in their infancy as rugby supporters, let alone as important (that is, self-important) officials.
In the end, New Zealand still ran up a half-century, even with two tries ruled out by replays, and they kept on hammering away. Players such as Damian McKenzie behind the scrum and giants such as Tamaiti Williams and Simon Parker up front still had too much power and pace for Wales. So in one way we could say that a 24-point margin was by no means as bad as people had feared. But next week, the battered Welsh face world champions South Africa, desperately short of confidence and by now, surely, in oxygen debt.
Liam Napier, NZ Herald
The All Blacks finished their season with another late flourish to ease their burden but victory over Wales won’t be enough to drastically alter the complexion of their year.
One week after their humbling Twickenham defeat that crushed their Grand Slam hopes, the All Blacks eventually cruised to a comfortable win in Cardiff to maintain their 72-year unbeaten record against Wales.
With 13 starting changes, as Scott Robertson handed his fringe players game time in the final test of the year, the All Blacks were never going to produce a perfect performance but they took some time to find any form of consistent rhythm as the spirited Welsh stuck with them for 50 minutes.
By the finish the All Blacks scored seven tries but it’s a mark of their frailties that Wales claimed four of their own – three to left wing Tom Rogers – and had one fewer line breaks with just over 30% of the ball. This was also the second most points Wales have scored against the All Blacks after their 37 at the 2003 World Cup.
After a patchy first half and another troubling third quarter, the All Blacks found a brief groove against a side ranked 12th in the world that has won two games – both against Japan – from their past 22 tests to create two tries for Sevu Reece and one for Rieko Ioane to end their year on a positive note.
The argument for genuine progression, though, is much harder to make. Three losses from 13 matches isn’t a terminal record by any stretch but the Twickenham result will continue to haunt the All Blacks.
The All Blacks were supremely dominant in possession, carries, post-contact metres, forcing Wales to make 143 more tackles, but a lack of execution hurt their ability to put the locals away.
Constant pressure eventually told, though, as Wales conceded two second-half yellow cards that paved the way for the All Blacks to kick clear in front of a typically passionate 68,388 crowd at the Principality Stadium.
Individually, man of the match Wallace Sititi and Caleb Clarke impressed with high involvement and depth is growing but, as a collective, the All Blacks clearly have vast improvements to make.
Gareth Griffiths, BBC Wales
New Zealand maintained seven decades of dominance against Wales with a comfortable seven-try victory at the Principality Stadium.
Steve Tandy’s side produced a spirited display as they scored the most amount of points against New Zealand in Cardiff but they also conceded 50 points at home for the third time this year.
Wales were made to pay for their indiscipline with yellow cards for Gareth Thomas and Taine Plumtree as the hosts were overwhelmed by the relentless New Zealand attack.
Inspired by dynamic number eight Wallace Sititi, it was a 34th successive victory in this fixture for the All Blacks in a winning sequence that stretches back to 1953.