Wales beat New Zealand 35–28 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday 14 November, their first win over the All Blacks since 1953. They had only 35.3% of the possession. Wales’ defence against the All Blacks made 346 tackles, more than two and a half times New Zealand’s 136, and kept them off the scoreboard for the final 27 minutes of round 5 of the Nations Championship.
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton said on ITV Sport’s post-match coverage that some of Wales’ second-half defensive effort was “the most heroic I’ve seen in a Welsh shirt”. The numbers back him up, and every Welsh one from the official post-match report is below.
ITV named James Botham man of the match. On these figures, should it have been Dafydd Jenkins?
Wales Made 346 Tackles. New Zealand Made 136
The All Blacks had the ball for almost two-thirds of the game (64.7%). They carried 260 times to Wales’ 119, passed 289 times to 112, made 677 metres to 329 and beat 36 defenders to 19. For carries, passes and metres, New Zealand more than doubled Wales.
Wales completed 346 tackles and missed 36, a success rate of about 91% by our count. New Zealand made 136 and missed 19, which is about 88%.
Wales’ five busiest tacklers made 148 tackles between them. That is 12 more than the whole All Blacks matchday 23 managed in 80 minutes.
| Wales’ top tacklers | Tackles | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Dafydd Jenkins (lock) | 38 | 80 |
| Jac Morgan (openside) | 31 | 80 |
| James Botham (blindside) | 30 | 80 |
| Eddie James (centre) | 25 | 80 |
| Dewi Lake (hooker, captain) | 24 | 59 |
Dafydd Jenkins Made More Tackles Than Any Two All Blacks Combined
Lock Dafydd Jenkins made 38 tackles, the most by anyone on the pitch, and won four lineouts. New Zealand’s top tackler was centre Quinn Tupaea with 14. Their next best, Wallace Sititi, Scott Barrett and Peter Lakai, had 13 each.
Openside Jac Morgan made 31 tackles and won four turnovers, meaning he won the ball back off New Zealand four times, more than any other Welshman. He went into the match leading the Nations Championship for successful tackles with 87, according to the competition’s pre-match preview report.
Blindside James Botham made 30 tackles and carried 10 times. Speaking to ITV Sport afterwards, he said the defensive work showed “just how much we have got each other’s backs because that’s what you need”. Read Botham’s full reaction.
Captain Dewi Lake scored Wales’ second try in the fifth minute and made 24 tackles in 59 minutes. Ryan Elias came on for him at 48:59, Lake returned at 59:39, and Elias replaced him for good at 69:29.
Wales’ Centres Out-Tackled New Zealand’s By More Than Double
Eddie James and Max Llewellyn made 48 tackles between them, 25 and 23. Their opposite numbers, Tupaea and Anton Lienert-Brown, made 23 together.
James did more than tackle. He scored Wales’ fourth try three minutes after half-time and won two turnovers. Lienert-Brown still caused problems, beating seven defenders, the most in the match.
The Bench Made 82 Tackles
The Wales replacements made 82 tackles. That is more than 60% of New Zealand’s total for the whole game.
- Prop Gareth Thomas: 19 tackles in 26 minutes
- Prop Dillon Lewis: 14 tackles in 26 minutes
- Lock Ben Carter: 13 tackles in 16 minutes
- Back-row Taine Plumtree: 12 tackles and two turnovers in 26 minutes
- Hooker Ryan Elias: 11 tackles in 21 minutes
All eight came on between the 49th and 65th minutes, so this was the defence that saw out the scoreless finish.
Five Line Breaks, Five Tries
A line break is when a carrier gets clean through the defensive line. Wales made five of them and scored five tries. New Zealand made nine and scored four.
Wing Louis Rees-Zammit made four of Wales’ five line breaks. He carried 10 times for 95 metres, the most of any Welshman, and scored on 48 minutes. Fly-half Sam Costelow’s conversion made it 35–21. Full-back Blair Murray added 70 metres, beat four defenders (Wales’ most) and made two of Wales’ five offloads.
No 8 Taine Basham carried 13 times, more than any other Wales player, for 45 metres. Scrum-half Tomos Williams scored in the first minute, threw 61 of Wales’ 112 passes and kicked 11 times from hand. Wales kicked 24 times to New Zealand’s 17.
Costelow kicked all five conversions for 10 points. Neither side kicked a penalty goal. All 63 points came from nine tries, and every one of them was converted.
Wales Never Trailed
Wales led 14–0 after six minutes through Williams and Lake. Cortez Ratima scored for New Zealand on nine minutes, and tighthead prop Archie Griffin’s converted try made it 21–7 by the 24th minute.
The All Blacks came back. Sititi scored on 30 minutes and wing Fehi Fineanganofo went over in first-half stoppage time, and Richie Mo’unga’s conversion made it 21–21 at the break. That was the only time they were level.
James scored on 43 minutes and Rees-Zammit on 48, and Costelow converted both for 35–21. Lakai crossed on 52 minutes and Mo’unga converted on 53 for 35–28. After that, New Zealand did not score again.
Where Wales Can Still Get Better
Wales conceded 11 penalties to New Zealand’s nine. Basham gave away three, and Nicky Smith and Botham two each. Wales also missed 36 tackles to New Zealand’s 19, and New Zealand offloaded 20 times to five.
Their lineout ran at 78.6% against New Zealand’s 80%. Giving the All Blacks 677 metres would lose most Test matches. Wales won this one because New Zealand turned the ball over 15 times and Wales won it back on 11 occasions.
From 52–26 Down To 35–28 Up In A Year
The previous meeting was at the same ground on 22 November 2025. New Zealand won it 52–26, scoring seven tries to four. A week later Wales lost 73–0 to South Africa at home, and in July this year they lost 43–0 to the Springboks away. Twelve months after the 52–26, the same fixture went the other way by seven points.
This win was Wales’ fourth in 39 Tests against New Zealand, and it ended a run of 34 straight defeats going back to a 13–8 win at Cardiff Arms Park in 1953. Read Warburton’s full reaction for his view on what head coach Steve Tandy has changed. For the full timeline and line-ups, read our Wales v New Zealand match report.
Pierre Brousset of France refereed, and the crowd was 55,152.
Botham got the man-of-the-match award on ITV. Jenkins made eight more tackles than him and won four lineouts. Which of them would you have picked?
Wales v New Zealand: Full Team Stats
| Stat | Wales | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 35 | 28 |
| Tries | 5 | 4 |
| Conversions | 5 | 4 |
| Possession | 35.3% | 64.7% |
| Tackles | 346 | 136 |
| Missed tackles | 36 | 19 |
| Turnovers won | 11 | 7 |
| Turnovers conceded | 7 | 15 |
| Carries | 119 | 260 |
| Metres | 329 | 677 |
| Defenders beaten | 19 | 36 |
| Line breaks | 5 | 9 |
| Offloads | 5 | 20 |
| Passes | 112 | 289 |
| Kicks | 24 | 17 |
| Penalties conceded | 11 | 9 |
| Lineout success | 78.6% | 80% |
| Scrum success | 60% | 0% (see note) |
Note: the official report lists New Zealand’s scrum success as 0%. The sheet gives no count of scrums fed, so we draw nothing from it.
Wales Player Stats v New Zealand
Every Wales player, from the official post-match report.
| Player | Mins | Tackles | Carries | Metres | Turnovers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Blair Murray | 80 | 7 | 8 | 70 | 1 |
| 14 Louis Rees-Zammit | 80 | 8 | 10 | 95 | 1 |
| 13 Eddie James | 80 | 25 | 8 | 18 | 2 |
| 12 Max Llewellyn | 80 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb | 54 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 10 Sam Costelow | 64 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| 9 Tomos Williams | 64 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| 1 Nicky Smith | 54 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 Dewi Lake (c) | 59 | 24 | 9 | 16 | 0 |
| 3 Archie Griffin | 54 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
| 4 Dafydd Jenkins | 80 | 38 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 Adam Beard | 64 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 James Botham | 80 | 30 | 10 | 16 | 0 |
| 7 Jac Morgan | 80 | 31 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| 8 Taine Basham | 54 | 16 | 13 | 45 | 0 |
| 16 Ryan Elias | 21 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 Gareth Thomas | 26 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 Dillon Lewis | 26 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 Ben Carter | 16 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 Taine Plumtree | 26 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams | 16 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 Dan Edwards | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 Louie Hennessey | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wales attack, player by player
| Player | Passes | Offloads | Line breaks | Pens conceded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blair Murray | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis Rees-Zammit | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Eddie James | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Max Llewellyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabriel Hamer-Webb | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Costelow | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomos Williams | 61 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicky Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dewi Lake | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Archie Griffin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dafydd Jenkins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Beard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| James Botham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jac Morgan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taine Basham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gareth Thomas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Taine Plumtree | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Reuben Morgan-Williams | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Edwards | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ryan Elias, Dillon Lewis, Ben Carter and Louie Hennessey recorded no passes, offloads, line breaks or penalties.
Kicks from hand (top five): Tomos Williams 11, Blair Murray 4, Sam Costelow 3, Louis Rees-Zammit 3, Reuben Morgan-Williams 2. Defenders beaten (top five): Blair Murray 4, Taine Basham 3, Max Llewellyn 2, James Botham 2, Dewi Lake 2.
Scorers: Tries: Tomos Williams (1), Dewi Lake (5), Archie Griffin (23), Eddie James (43), Louis Rees-Zammit (48). Conversions: Sam Costelow 5/5.
Line breaks: Rees-Zammit 4, James 1. Lineouts won: Jenkins 4, Beard 4, Botham 1, Basham 1. Penalties conceded: Basham 3, Smith 2, Botham 2, James 1, Griffin 1, Beard 1, Plumtree 1. Cards: none.
Quick Answers
When did Wales last beat New Zealand before this?
In 1953, when Wales won 13–8 at Cardiff Arms Park. The 35–28 win on 14 November 2026 ended a run of 34 straight defeats and was their fourth win in 39 Tests against the All Blacks.
How many tackles did Wales make against the All Blacks?
Wales made 346 tackles and missed 36. Lock Dafydd Jenkins made 38, the most on the pitch, followed by Jac Morgan with 31 and James Botham with 30. New Zealand made 136.
Who scored Wales’ tries against New Zealand?
Tomos Williams, Dewi Lake, Archie Griffin, Eddie James and Louis Rees-Zammit scored a try each. Sam Costelow converted all five.
Stats: Nations Championship 2026 official post-match report (Wales 35–28 New Zealand, 14 November 2026) and the Nations Championship pre-match preview report.
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