A few months ago, this team was still at rock bottom. It was emerging from a terrible run of 17 consecutive defeats between 2024 and 2025.
The Leek XV ends a 73-year curse. Since that date, the question haunting Wales has not been when it can beat the All Blacks again, but whether it is capable of doing so.
Against a reshuffled New Zealand side, Steve Tandy's men strike quickly and hard. They score three tries in the first half, the first as early as the second minute, and five in total.
Late in the match, Wales, like France, relies on an iron defense to preserve a lead of one converted try.
This run of defeats, stretching across 34 matches, weighs like a millstone around the necks of generations of Welsh players.
The win thus ranks among the most resounding performances of recent years for a team that seemed far from such a feat.