Wales Face New Zealand Seeking a First Win Since 1953
Wales host New Zealand at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in the Nations Championship, the autumn series between leading rugby nations, with kick-off at 14:10 GMT. The All Blacks, as New Zealand are known, are the team Wales have struggled against most.
Wales have not beaten New Zealand since December 1953. BBC Sport reports that Wales enter the game on a 34-match losing streak against them, so a defeat would make it 35 in a row. That is a long run for any side to carry onto the pitch.
Wales do arrive in better spirits than that record suggests. They beat Japan 28-21 in their previous match. Head coach Steve Tandy took over in 2025, and he has now led Wales to wins over Japan twice, as well as Fiji and Italy.
The team has changed in places. Aaron Wainwright will miss the match with injury. Dewi Lake captains the side, and Taine Basham gets his first Test start since 2022. A Test is the term for a full international match, and a first start in more than three years is a real moment for a player.
Wales have had big days against southern hemisphere opposition before. At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, under Warren Gatland, they beat Australia 40-6 in the group stage. Their closest recent meeting with New Zealand came in 2004, when they lost 26-25. That was a fortnight after a 38-36 defeat to South Africa.
Wales face Australia the following Saturday, with kick-off at 20:10 GMT. Two home games in a row, against two of the sport's traditional powers, will test the squad's depth and its nerve. For Tandy and his players, the first task is simply to find a different result from the last 70 years.
