Rugby: feat of Wales, victorious over New Zealand for the first time since 1953

A resounding success! Guts and heart: Wales beat New Zealand on Saturday for the first time in 73 years (35-28) thanks to five tries scored and fierce defense at the end of the match.

The feat, on behalf of the fifth day of the Nations Championship, is resounding, while the Welsh experienced a series of 24 defeats in 26 matches between the 2023 World Cup and the end of the 2026 Six Nations Tournament. And even if three victories (Italy, Fiji, Japan) had given a little balm to the heart of this historic rugby nation, in great financial difficulty, there was nothing to believe in such a performance against New Zealand, first in world ranking since the South African defeat against France (21-19) on Friday evening.

But we must believe that presenting a team that had been largely overhauled between the victory against Scotland (43-21) and the challenge against England awakened the fury of the Welsh dragon, after years of sleep, like the last thirty minutes spent in courageous defense, but where the Welsh managed to thwart the ball in their in-goal three times, sometimes at the end of interminable sequences of play.

In the Nations Championship rankings, New Zealand preserves the essentials with the double offensive and defensive bonus by taking sole lead of the South group, one point ahead of South Africa. Wales, with three victories in five matches, are recovering but remain far from France in the lead before the last day.

The Leek XV started the match without complexes, leading 14-0 after six minutes of play after two tries, at the end of the line then in strength. The All Blacks, captained by full-back Beauden Barrett for the first time in 149 caps, responded with a try from Cortez Ratima, but never managed to find a second wind, the fault of clumsiness and unusual slowness.

Symbol of waste: after winning a scrum penalty, they asked for the test of strength again, in the Welsh 22 meters. Penalized scrum and two fouls later, Archie Griffin gave the Welsh some breathing room (21-7, 23rd). But at the break, the All Blacks were back on track with two new tries, the last of which was a 60-meter restart after a stolen touch (21-21).

The Welsh did not give up in the second half. On the contrary, eight minutes after the restart, they led again by 14 points (35-21) after a conquering maul, aiming for tries on all occasions rather than three points at the foot. But Peter Lakai immediately responded with a try (35-28, 52nd). Then came 30 minutes of incessant black waves in the 22 Welsh meters. The Reds tackled without counting, remaining disciplined while the All Blacks persisted head-on, in vain, far from the game of movement and combinations that characterizes them.