Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 1 day ago
Wales delivered their most spirited performance in months against New Zealand, a display overflowing with passion, precision, and defiance — yet it still ended with a sobering reminder of the gulf between them and the world’s elite.

Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00Wales delivered their most spirited performance in months against New Zealand, a display overflowing
00:07with passion, precision and defiance, yet it still ended with a sobering reminder of the gulf
00:13between them and the world's elite. This was a Wales side far removed from the flat frantic team
00:20that scraped past Japan a week earlier, led superbly by Nafif Jenkins and Toon Plumtree
00:26and energised by revitalised Louis Rees-Zamit. They produced four tries against the All Blacks,
00:31including a historic hat-trick from Tom Rogers, the first Welshman to score three against New Zealand.
00:38For long stretches, Wales genuinely flattened something extraordinary. Rogers' third try early
00:44in the second half dragged the deficit back to 21-24, where it remained through a tense spell
00:50in which two All Blacks scored were almost ruled out. More than 68,000 supporters roared their
00:57approval as Wales, heavily penalised by referee Holly Davidson, refused to wield. But the issues
01:04run deeper than 80 minutes of execution. The off-field chaos within Welsh rugby, the secrecy,
01:11the mismanagement, the visible anxiety in the Principality Stadium's executive tears
01:17continues to seep into the national side. And when New Zealand finally stabilised their superior
01:24size, pace and depth, Damian McKenzie's orchestration, the brute force of Tomati Williams
01:30and two of Suri Rees' tries pushed the visitors beyond reach, despite Wales' admirable resilience.
01:38Wales' first half was courageous, full of clever handling and bold attacking style,
01:43with Max Lewin and Joe Hawkins finally offering the midfield clarity that has so often been
01:48missing. Yet basic errors and the physical mismatch eventually caught up, and New Zealand
01:54hit 50 despite having two scores chalked off.
01:58After such exertion and many bruises, Wales faced the Springboks desperately short of bodies,
02:04confidence and recovery time. In truth, if offered a 26-point defeat next week, they might
02:10quietly accept it.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended