Wales Beat the All Blacks

I never thought that I would be able to write that down after seventy three years of losses.  When I think of all the great Welsh sides that have failed to accomplish a victory it is amazing that it has happened with Welsh rugby at such a low ebb.

The match wasn’t even a friendly either but was part of the new World Nations Rugby Cup. Form was certainly against Wales after they had struggled to beat Japan and New Zealand had thumped Scotland in the second half after a closely contested first half. Odds of 20 to 1 against a Welsh victory were quoted before the match.

All this mattered for nothing as Wales started in powerful style and quickly built a 14-0 lead through converted tries by Williams and Lake. Wales certainly looked a much tougher prospect than the All Blacks were expecting. The All Blacks hit back with a converted try of their own but Wales were far from done when Griffin powered over for their third try to lead 21-7. In typical New Zealand fashion they tied up the scores with two tries including a last gasp try in the final action of the first half.

With the score 21-21, I did wonder whether New Zealand would do what they did in Murrayfield and blast Wales away in the second half. Nothing could be further from the truth when Wales took the initiative straight from the kick off. Wales added two further converted tries through Rees Zammit and James to re-establish a fourteen point lead at 35-21. The Welsh fans looked on with a sense of disbelief  and although the crowd was disappointingly small they found their voices and how.

From then on, it was NZ attack versus Welsh defence that was something like Rorke’s Drift. NZ hammered away against a resolute Welsh defence. New Zealand scored again to make it a seven point game at 35-28 and set up attack after attack with Wales unable to get out of their own twenty-two. The Welsh defence was simply magnificent with the players tackling themselves to a standstill. Botham twice managed to hold up NZ players over the goal line as he showed his strength. There was just no weak link in the Welsh defence.

The clock seemed to move incredibly slowly as the tension mounted. Every All Black defence or thumping Welsh tackle was cheered to the rafters. This was red blooded stuff and it was remarkable that the Welsh discipline was such that a yellow card was avoided despite conceding a number of penalties.

With a couple of minutes to go, Wales finally escaped the All Black stranglehold and were able to play out the remaining time in midfield. The final whistle blew and the crowd erupted in cheers for their Welsh heroes who really had excelled themselves. The players must have been absolutely exhausted as the magnitude of their achievement came home.

What a fantastic effort from the Welsh team and I am delighted that I was there to see the famous victory. I was just a one year old when Wales last beat New Zealand. Hopefully this will be a tremendous boost to the confidence of the squad who face Australia next Saturday. There will be a lot of battered and bruised bodies with little time to recover.

As an appetiser, Pooler play Aberavon in the afternoon with the Wales match kicking off rather late at 20.10. Pooler have made changes to their coaching team after the disappointing start to the season. We welcome back Leighton Jones who will head up the coaching team. He did a fantastic job getting Pooler into Super Rugby Wales and has a wealth of knowledge. Good luck Leighton!

Come on Pooler!

Fantastic result Wales.  Let us beat the Aussies too!