All Blacks v Wales: Dave Rennie says New Zealand side ‘out-passioned’ and ‘outpointed’ in loss

Detailed summary

Quite how Wales ended seven decades of suffering against the All Blacks will be the subject of oval ball fans for many years to come. For now, though, Wales toast their heroes.…

Quite how Wales ended seven decades of suffering against the All Blacks will be the subject of oval ball fans for many years to come.

For now, though, Wales toast their heroes. The streets of Cardiff are celebratory carnage; awash with stunned, ecstatic punters – many of them stumbling with joy – as they savour one of the great rugby upsets.

After 34 straight losses to the All Blacks since their last success in 1953, Welsh fans have waited a lifetime for this moment. So many greats of their game never earned victory against the All Blacks.

Steve Tandy’s rebuilding Welsh were the most unlikely to achieve the feat, too. They scraped past Japan last week – and hadn’t beaten a top eight side for three years, since the 2023 World Cup. This is their sixth win in that time.

Yet here we are, struggling to comprehend how Wales repelled the All Blacks at Principality Stadium.

In the immediate aftermath of the shock setback, the All Blacks are certainly rocked by the result that drastically alters the complexion of their season and demands a swift response.

Everything from selection to on-field leadership, mentality and tactics will be examined.

“Massively disappointed,” All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said, as his tenure slumped to a 69% win record with the fourth loss from 11 tests this year.

“We’ll look at everything. When you lose, it’s not just on the players. It’s around how did we prepare the team this week, selection and our decision-making around substitutions. We certainly got out-passioned. We got outpointed in lots of areas tonight.”

Opening of the article, excerpted from NZ Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.