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-Paul Rolton
All Blacks V Wales, November 23rd 2025
The All Blacks rounded off their 2025 season in good fashion with a resounding 52-26 over a Wales XV who were up for the fight without having the punch to put this second-string All Black side away. The All Black starting 15 had 12 changes from their underwhelming game against England, with Will Jordan, Simon Parker and Captain Scott Barrett the only returning players, and Damian McKenzie starting at 1st 5/8.
The All Blacks started well with winger Caleb Clarke, who was returning from head knock protocols, scoring in the 4th minute after a Fabian Holland lineout win was followed up with strong carries by Parker Samisoni Taukei’aho and Pasilio Tosi. Some slick back play saw a great Rueben Love pass put Clarke score in the tackle of his opposite in the corner, which McKenzie converted from the touchline.
As quickly as the All Blacks had scored, the response from Wales was just as quick. An error by the men in black saw the Welsh quickly recycle, and when Louis Rees Zammitt wins the aerial contest, the Welsh swing it wide and the ball is flicked to Tom Rodgers, who goes over for the first of his hat-trick of tries. A All Blacks penalty saw them regain the lead soon after, and the next 15 minutes became a real arm wrestle with neither side gaining any ascendancy.
The All Blacks struct next with a strong return from a goal line drop out, Wallace Sititi storms back into contact before the ball is moved right with Reiko Ioane, back in his favored spot of Centre, and when he is cut down the ball gets into the hands of Love who produces a big step off his right before beating the defense with a 25 metre run that results in the try, with McKenzie again accurate with the conversion for a 10 point lead. Again, Wales are swift in their response when Love spills a high kick, Taine Plumtree drives into the 22 before the ball is moved quickly left, where Rodgers takes the final pass to sneak over in the corner and with the conversion good, it was tight again at 17-14 with 33 minutes of the 1st 40 minutes gone.
Tamaiti Williams the hulking All Black loosehead prop was the next on the board when from another Holland lineout win the All Black maul goes to work, and when it is bought down halfback Cortez Ratima pops a short pass to Williams who smashes his way through 3 weak Welsh tackles before twisting and turning his way over the line, and with McKenzie again accurate from the tee the All Blacks go into the break at 24-14.
The second 40 is a great start for Wales with Rogers completing his fantastic game with his third try, again the All Blacks are beaten in the air, and after some sloppy All Blacks defence, Rodgers is able to step inside Love to score around dot down in the corner. Dan Edwards again converts with a well-struck kick from the touch line, and the game looks anyone’s as no team seems to be able to maintain control.
The All Blacks were frustrated twice in the next three minutes when, firstly, a Clarke try was disallowed after an earlier knock on, whilst Jordan was held up over the line a minute later. Ioane was the one to break the shackles when, in the 51st minute, after Williams again being dominant with the ball in hand, before a pinpoint cross-field kick from McKenzie was scooped up by the big centre who was able to get in down in the corner under pressure from the Welsh defence. McKenzie is again great from the touch line with a perfect conversion, and a 31-21 lead.
The first of two Welsh yellow cards in the last quarter came in the 58th minute when Gareth Thomas fails to use his arms in a tackle, and from the resulting lineout it is again Holland who takes the ball down, Strong runs from both Taukei’aho and Fletcher Newell, is then completed when Jordan creates an extra man for replacement Sevu Reece to stroll over untouched for the first of his late brace of tries. McKenzie continues his 100% success from his kicks and at 38-21 with 20 minutes to go, the All Blacks are finishing strongly.
Plumtree was yellow-carded in the 68th minute, and again the All Blacks are quick to strike against a 14-man defence. Relentless attack from the All Blacks pack, and with Jordan again in the backline and floating a long pass to Reece picks up the poor pass and shows some slick footwork to score close to the post for the 45-21 lead. The Welsh did manage to get one back after some good lead-up work from their pack, before Rees Zammit showed his outstanding pace to go over in the tackle of his opposite Clarke.
However, it was Clarke who had the last word when from the kick off Wales tried to play in there defensive area and after a short clearance Jordan moves the ball wide for Leicester Fainga’anuku who beats his defender, then unloads to Ioane and Clarke finishes out wide, and with McKenzie converting for a perfect 8 from 8 the final games of a long season is over with a big All Blacks win.
Outstanding for the All Blacks were Sititi, who carried well with Taukei’aho damaging on the fringes, whilst Holland, who was again the go-to man at lineout time. The pack scrummaged well for an all-round good day for the forwards. It was good to see the All Blacks score tries out wide, where Clarke was good and Jordan created space every time he touched the ball.
The All Blacks management will look back at the season with mixed emotions. A 3-0 series win over a poor French side was then followed by a loss to Argentina and a 43-10 thrashing by the Boks at home, mixed in with two wins in the Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship. They then beat Australia in two straight games before venturing off on this Northern tour. The Irish and Scottish victories were not comprehensive, and when they were clearly outplayed by England, their grand slam hopes were in tatters.
There were some pluses with utility outside back Fainga’anuku proving strong with the ball in hand after his 18 months plying his trade in France, whilst Cam Roigard proved he is world-class and able to play 80 minutes if needed at halfback. The midfield, especially after the injury to Jordie Barrett, looked shaky on defence, whilst the side had issues out wide from injuries. The forwards, which have several players in the early stages of their careers, are developing well with Holland, Josh Lord and Peter Lakai making big strides, whilst Simon Parker just needs to work on consistency. Sititi finished the season strongly after a mid-season slump, whilst our front row is well served with Williams and Newall growing in stature, and veterans Cody Taylor and Ethan Degroot having good years. With Tyrel Lomax still out injured, our front row stocks are looking good.
The coaching team will probably spend some time looking in the mirror over the Christmas break, with another Assistant coach, Jason Holland, deciding not to renew his contract. There are questions about the cohesiveness of this Scott Robertson led group. There is also some confusion from ex-players and coaches alike around the game plan or lack thereof, whilst at times the players look all at sea around what they should be doing on the field. Is there a spot for New Zealand XV coach Jamie Joseph to come into the group in a mentoring role, similar to what Joe Schmidt did during the Ian Foster era, adding International experience.
The season was probably 6 out of 10, the huge loss in Wellington against the Bok was the lowest point, with no game really standing out as a total performance. The 10 win 3 loss record from the outside doesn’t look to bad, though fans will be expecting better going forward.