Wales bury 73-year All Blacks hoodoo with seismic victory over New Zealand

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Wales 35 28. Just when you expect it the least. By what wild logic did Wales choose now to pull off a victory 73 years in the seeking? There may ...

Just when you expect it the least. By what wild logic did Wales choose now to pull off a victory 73 years in the seeking? There may have been only 55,000 in Cardiff’s great stadium, but judging by the noise alone, Wales are back.

An extraordinary defensive display for the last half-hour kept wave after wave of New Zealand attacks at bay, each greeted as if the most sublime of tries by JPR, Gareth, Shane or JJ. None of those ever tasted this, but now a new generation of Welshmen, still young and hopeful, can add a win over the All Blacks to their CV.

New Zealand will claim top spot in the southern table of this championship, but courtesy of two bonus points, rather than the five-pointer everyone expected. They had made eight changes for this, after dispatching Scotland, who had been given a chance. But the changes made them vulnerable, and when each of them turned to the other in hope of the sort of authority and calm that might have applied to previous iterations, there was none. They hammered and hammered away, but could not force their tireless hosts into submission.

The stadium may have been some way short of capacity, but it was soon rocking as of old. Wales tore into their fabled visitors from the off. Tomos Williams, one of an increasing number of world-class players Wales are starting to build a new team around, was over within 90 seconds. His cut-out pass to Louis Rees-Zammit was in itself announcement of that class, but he followed up Rees-Zammit’s chip ahead and was able to dot the loose ball down for the game’s first try.

Cardiff more than stirred, but the Welsh know only too well that a sucker punch at the start of a match against this lot means not an awful lot. So Wales took it upon themselves to score a second just a few minutes later. They sent a penalty to the corner, where Dewi Lake picked a great line off Williams’s pass to crash over. Sam Costelow converted for a 14-0 lead. We had played barely five minutes.

Within 10, the All Blacks had responded.

Non…

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