Zealand

Fight and character only takes you so far in international rugby circles and New Zealand were undoubtedly a step up in class and quality.

This victory extended the All Blacks winning run against Wales to 34 games, a sequence stretching back to 1953.

Wales might have matched their opponents for 50 minutes but still conceded 50 points at home for the third time this year, after England and Argentina also brought up a half-century at the Principality Stadium.

The All Blacks also scored more than 50 points for the third consecutive match in Cardiff.

There was defiant and dogged home defence in evidence, but New Zealand still secured seven tries, with the boot of Damian McKenzie adding 17 points, while Wales missed 38 tackles.

The match statistics demonstrated that New Zealand dominance. The All Blacks managed 1,362 metres from 167 carries, compared to Wales’ 593 from 77. Tandy’s side made 223 tackles, compared to New Zealand’s 85.

For all of Wales’ endeavour, the All Blacks crossed the gainline repeatedly with powerful wing Caleb Clarke and dynamic number eight Wallace Sititi emphasising how the visitors appeared bigger, faster and stronger.

“Our power game was strong,” said All Blacks coach Robertson.

“We’re ranked one and two in the world in a lot of areas and one of them is our power game.

“We knew it would take a little while to break them down and they’d be in it at 50 or 60 minutes, but fatigue would set in and we could make the most of that.”

Wales have now shipped 127 points in three games this November with world champions South Africa arriving at the Principality Stadium next weekend.

Wales: Murray; Rees-Zammit, Llewellyn, Hawkins, Rogers; Edwards, T Williams; Carre, Lake (capt), Assiratti, D Jenkins, Beard, Mann, Deaves, Plumtree.

Replacements: Coghlan, G Thomas, Griffin, F Thomas, Morse, Hardy, J Evans, Tompkins.

New Zealand: Love; Jordan, R Ioane, Lienert-Brown, Clarke; McKenzie, Ratima; T Williams, Taukei’aho, Tosi, S Barrett (capt), Holland, Parker, Kirifi, Sititi.

Replacements: Bell, Newell, Bower, Lord, Lio-Willie, Christie, Fainga’anuku, Reece.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).

Wales: Murray; Rees-Zammit, Llewellyn, Hawkins, Rogers; Edwards, T Williams; Carre, Lake (capt), Assiratti, D Jenkins, Beard, Mann, Deaves, Wainwright.

Replacements: Coghlan, G Thomas, Griffin, F Thomas, Plumtree, Hardy, J Evans, Tompkins.

New Zealand: Love; Jordan, R Ioane, Lienert-Brown, Clarke; McKenzie, Ratima; T Williams, Taukei’aho, Tosi, S Barrett (capt), Holland, Parker, Kirifi, Sititi.

Replacements: Bell, Newell, Bower, Lord, Lio-Willie, Christie, Fainga’anuku, Reece.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).

In a cagey first quarter, both sides struggled to keep hold of the ball but the Roses edged a 14-11 lead.

The Silver Ferns quickly closed that gap in quarter two as England were punished for their sloppiness and errors began to accumulate.

Head coach Jess Thirlby shuffled the attack end to try to change the momentum, Helen Housby replacing Olivia Tchine at goal shooter as England lacked the potency under the post they had shown in game two.

But the hosts could not prevent New Zealand turning the tables and taking a two-goal lead into half-time.

England rallied after the break, much to the delight of an enthusiastic home crowd, as London Pulse defensive duo Halimat Adio and Funmi Fadoju worked hard to win the ball back and Housby and Lois Pearson combined well in the shooting circle.

But the Roses let things slip in the final couple of minutes of the third quarter, losing their way and allowing New Zealand to take a 42-38 lead going into the final period.

Fadoju claimed a loose Silver Ferns pass early in the final quarter as England tried to claw back the deficit. But defensive hard work was not always rewarded with goals at the other end as New Zealand further stretched their lead.

Shooter Grace Nweke, who has enjoyed a fruitful series, was consistent under the post while Maddy Gordon shone at centre.

Thirlby made changes in attack but no combination had the desired effect and the Roses could not close the gap.

They will face Jamaica in December before taking on South Africa in January as they continue to build up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“It is just moments where we need to smarten up. Tomorrow is another day.

“We made it a bit easy for them at times. We had too many blips in the circuit.”

England took an early lead in front of a noisy crowd in their first match since February.

But New Zealand, who denied England a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, fought back and led 15-14 after the first quarter with a score on the buzzer.

New Zealand extended their lead to 33-30 by half-time. Goal shooter Grace Nweke proved near unstoppable and was supported by sisters Kate and Georgia Heffernan, while England made unforced errors.

Thirlby made changes at half-time and her side were reinvigorated for the third period as they stormed back to level at 47-47.

Goal keeper Jaz Brown was impressive on her England debut with crucial steals.

However, the tourists showed their quality in the fourth quarter despite England shooter Eleanor Cardwell coming off the bench for her first appearance since suffering a knee injury which threatened her career.

The second game takes place at the same venue on Sunday and the final match is at AO Arena in Manchester on Wednesday.

England play Jamaica in December.

England: Steward; Roebuck, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; Ford (vc), Mitchell; Baxter, George (vc), Heyes, Itoje, Coles, Pepper, Underhill, Earl

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge (vc), Stuart, Cunningham-South, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, M Smith

New Zealand: Jordan; Carter, Proctor, Tupaea, Fainga’anuku; B Barrett, Roigard, De Groot, Taylor (vc), Newell, S Barrett (c), Lord, Parker, Savea (vc), Lakai

Replacements: Taukei’aho, Williams, Tosi, Lord, Sititi, Ratima, Lienert-Brown, McKenzie

For 20 minutes at Murrayfield last weekend, little was going right for Damian McKenzie.

The 30-year-old, 5ft 8in, 12 stone, fair hair, fresh face, looks a little out of place among the flying breeze blocks elsewhere on the pitch.

Initially, after coming off the bench in the 44th minute against Scotland, he felt it too.

“Kyle Steyn had just scored for them when I came on,” he said.

“We kicked off, they put up a box kick from nine, I went up to catch it and wasn’t able to. I knocked my head as well.

“Blood started pouring out. We were most of the time on defence. We got a scrum, I kicked it out, but didn’t make too many metres.

“Then I missed a tackle on Darcy Graham, luckily Cam Roigard saved the try in the corner, but I cut my chin. That started bleeding and I thought, ‘here we go, it’s going to be a long last 15 minutes’.”

It was a crucial 15 minutes as well.

At that point, the score was 17-17. The All Blacks were a man down via Wallace Sititi’s yellow card. Scotland were sniffing history.

In 120 years of trying, a first win over New Zealand was a single point and a quarter of an hour away.

Allan Bunting has stepped down from his role as New Zealand director of rugby following the Black Ferns’ semi-final exit at the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand Rugby has announced it will recruit a new head coach following an “extensive review of the Black Ferns programme” after the tournament in England – and that Bunting will not be seeking the position.

New Zealand, who had won six of the previous seven Women’s Rugby World Cups, were knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2025 edition by Canada but then beat France to finish third.

Hosts England defeated Canada in the final to win the competition.

Bunting, who was appointed director of rugby of the Black Ferns in 2023, said it had been an “absolute honour” to lead the team.

He added: “Over the past 14 years, I’ve been honoured to contribute across both the Sevens and Fifteens programmes and experience pinnacle events such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Series and World Cups.

“To have played a role in the growth of the women’s game during this time has been a privilege.”

A couple of factors have helped England in making this tactical shift.

Firstly, rugby’s calendar. The Lions tour of Australia sucked up 13 first-choice England players the summer. It meant youngsters and fringe players were given a shot in Argentina and repaid Bothwick with back-to-back Test wins.

Guy Pepper made his international debut. Baxter and Heyes started together for the first time. Alex Coles was in the XV for the first time in two and a half years. Tom Roebuck cemented his place as Test wing. Freddie Steward and George Ford, who had managed one appearance each in the Six Nations earlier in the year, gave reminders of their quality.

All seven start on Saturday.

Secondly, however the personnel are distributed across the matchday 23, there has been a sharper focus on how to take the initiative – psychologically, physiologically and strategically – in the closing stages.

David Priestley, a psychologist who has previously worked with Leicester and Saracens, as well as Premier League side Arsenal, has been sharpening mental processes under pressure.

Sam Underhill, a key man in England’s last win over New Zealand six years ago in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, says communicating amid the sound and fury of a match’s crescendo is crucial.

“Obviously there’s a focus on every quarter of the game, but I think in terms of doing well towards the tail-end, there’s a lot to be said for tactical clarity,” he told Rugby Union Weekly.

“For a lot of guys, breathwork’s important when you get breaks in play and you want to get your mental clarity as quickly as possible.

“You want to get your heart rate down and thinking clearly.

“You also want to get messages across to each other.

“Key decision-makers and key leaders in areas – defensive and attacking – will have the attention of the group.

“You don’t have an awful lot of time, you can’t say loads, so it’s about being as clear and concise as possible.

“What helps is your understanding in the week – what you want to do and how you want to do it

“The more understanding we have and the clearer we are as a group, the easier it is then for the decision-makers to tap into the things that we’ve learned in the week, as to what specifically our focus is going to be for maybe that play, or the next five or 10 minutes.”

Scotland: Kinghorn; Graham, Hutchinson, Tuipulotu (capt) Steyn; Russell, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Gilchrist, Cummings, Brown, M Fagerson, Dempsey.

Replacements: Turner, Sutherland, Millar-Mills, Sykes, Darge, Bayliss, Dobie, Jordan.

New Zealand: Jordan; Carter, Fainga’anuku, Tupaea, Clarke; B Barrett, Roigard; Groot, Taylor, Newell, Lord, Holland, Sititi, Savea (capt), Lakai.

Replacements: Taukei’aho,  Williams, Tosi,  Darry, Kirifi, Ratima, Proctor, McKenzie.

Ireland’s 40-29 win in Chicago nine years ago was one of the apogees in the team’s history, while the intensity and stakes of the World Cup quarter-final extracted herculean efforts from both sides in what is widely considered the rivalry’s apex.

But Saturday’s entry did not resemble either of those games.

Neither team reached anywhere near their maximum, and with a raft of protracted stoppages for tackle reviews and injuries, it failed to deliver an interest-generating spectacle in a country which is hosting the World Cup in six years.

Ultimately, New Zealand will not care. For them, a long-awaited fifth Grand Slam of the northern hemisphere remains in play after a second-half surge that yielded three tries in 15 minutes.

Ireland, however, have much to stew on.

Last year, they opened their autumn campaign with a loss to the All Blacks. Their performance in Dublin that night was one of the flattest of the Farrell era and they were not much better here.

There were, at least, some positives. They responded strongly to Tadhg Beirne’s highly controversial early red card to lead 10-0 thanks to a Jack Crowley penalty and Tadhg Furlong’s first try since 2021.

Elsewhere, Stuart McCloskey, a surprise inclusion at inside centre, shone in his first appearance against the All Blacks before being forced off injured, while Ryan Baird staked his claim to be a regular fixture in the back row.

But while they led for 57 minutes, Ireland never seemed fully in control. Having lost a tenacious operator in Beirne, they were bested at the breakdown and missed crucial tackles, while a creaky lineout blunted their ability to create opportunities and ramp up scoreboard pressure.

“There’s so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup.

“Mitch [Santner] is a brilliant captain and leader – he has really come into his own with this team.

“It’s now their time to push the Black Caps forward in this format and I’ll be supporting from afar.”

The T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starts in February.

Williamson made his T20 debut for New Zealand in 2011 but had not featured since June 2024.

Regarded by many as the best batter in New Zealand history, he is their leading Test run-scorer of all time and fourth on the ODI list.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink said Williamson had earned the right to decide how he finished his ODI and Test careers.

“We’ve made it clear to Kane he has our full support as he reaches the back end of his illustrious career,” he said.

“We would, of course, love to see him play for as long as possible, but there’s no doubt whenever he does decide to finally call time, he will go down as a legend of New Zealand cricket.”

New Zealand completed a 3-0 clean sweep in the one-day series against England on Saturday, having lost a rain-affected T20 series 1-0 beforehand.