All Blacks’ attack under pressure after Wales expose costly flaws

The All Blacks have less than a week to fix their attacking problems after Wales exposed a costly weakness in New Zealand’s game in their historic 35-28 win on Sunday morning (NZT).

For all New Zealand's possession and territory, Wales refused to crack when it mattered, making a huge 332 tackles compared with 122 by the All Blacks.

The bigger concern for New Zealand is what they did with their chances.

They were held up over the Welsh line three times and failed to add a point after Richie Mo'unga's 52nd-minute kick, allowing Wales to close out their first win over the All Blacks in 73 years.

"We got held up three times, should have scored on all of those, you know, and so we had a mountain of possession and territory and, and so, yeah, look, we should have done better,” Rennie told a post-match media conference.

“But again, you know, I think they made over 300 tackles, so massive defensive effort from them and, you know, they were the better side tonight."

Wales players celebrate victory at full time. Photo/Matt Impey/Photosport.

Rennie's assessment was blunt. New Zealand were not short of opportunities, but too often made the wrong choice when Wales were under pressure.

"We created opportunities, I just thought we got a bit one dimensional. "So, you know, that's that's decision making under pressure and they [Wales] provided a lot of pressure tonight.”

That will make next Sunday's clash with England at Twickenham even more important.

England come into the final round of Nations Championship pool fixtures after a 45-22 win over Australia, giving the All Blacks little time to dwell on their loss in Wales.

New Zealand had managed to fight back from 21-14 down to level the scores at half-time, with tries from Cortez Ratima, Fehi Fineanganofo and Wallace Sititi.

But Wales' defence continued to absorb the pressure after the break, while the All Blacks could not find the finishing touch.

“We weren’t good enough in the end,” Rennie told Sky Sport. “We were quite disconnected. We had times where we just had to go same way or we tended to play away from our numbers and when we squeezed them up, all we had to do was go back door and pick them off.”

The All Blacks head to Twickenham to take on England early next Sunday 22 November (NZT). The English dominated the Wallabies 45-22 last weekend.

The match opens the final round of Nations Championship pool fixtures, alongside Scotland and Japan.

Fiji fall to Ireland after promising start

Following the All Blacks-Wales match, the Flying Fijians also showed signs of improvement but could not hold on against Ireland in Dublin.

Fiji were within two points of Ireland at 17-15 at halftime before the home side pulled away with 26 unanswered points in the second half to win 43-15.

Irish Player of the Match Ryan Baird said Fiji had made the match difficult for Ireland, particularly in the opening half.

“I’d like to thank Fiji for an incredible game, that was one of the most enjoyable Test games I’ve ever played in. That was a thriller of a match,” Baird told Virgin Media.

Fiji captain Tevita Ikanivere said his side had made a promising start while head coach Jake White was pleased with the way they stayed in the contest for 55 minutes.

But Ireland's ability to deny Fiji possession after half-time changed the game.

“We let them play more than we’d like to have played. I think we gave them too much ball and they punished us. You saw in the second half, we didn’t give them as much, it allowed us to put points on the board,” Baird said.

Fiji now turn their attention to Italy next Sunday at Bluenergy Stadium in Udine while the All Blacks know another failure to turn pressure into points could prove costly at Twickenham.

For more information on the 2026 Nations Championship fixtures, results and team lists, click here.