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Wayne Pivac wants Wales to get physical after latest big loss to New Zealand

05 Nov 2022 3 minute read
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac reacts following the Autumn International match at the Principality Stadium. Picture by Joe Giddens / PA Wire

Wayne Pivac warned Wales must improve their physicality after New Zealand overpowered them to register a 33rd consecutive victory in the fixture.

New Zealand scored eight tries and a record number of points against Wales in their 55-23 win at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

The All Blacks were last beaten by Wales in 1953 and 25 of their 33 victories since have been by a margin of 15 points or more.

Head coach Pivac said: “There were a lot of good individual performances but I think collectively as a group we needed to, at times, be a little bit more physical, come off the line and meet New Zealand.

“We wanted a fast start, but we didn’t get that. We leaked 17 points pretty early on.

“We were very pleased to get back into the game once we’d got through that part.

“New Zealand sides are very good in the last 10 minutes before half-time and probably the start after half-time.

“We focused on that and did well to get back into that game I thought. We started the second half as we’d hoped and that was to score first and get within seven.

“Unfortunately after that we weren’t able to exit and you put a lot of that down to the pressure New Zealand exerted on us in and around our 22.

“That was really disappointing to concede and it was clear at that point we started to chase the game a little bit. Chasing the game, the score went away from us a little bit at the end.”

‘Under pressure’

Wales, 17-0 down after 19 minutes, scored two tries through the debut-making wing Rio Dyer and flanker Justin Tipuric.

Skipper Tipuric’s try after 51 minutes reduced the deficit to six points but New Zealand, 29-23 ahead at that point, dominated the final half-hour and romped away with three further tries.

“They got speed of ball in our 22 which most teams are after – and we weren’t able to do that,” said Pivac, whose side face remaining autumn games against Argentina, Georgia and Australia.

“Like all good New Zealand sides at the breakdown you question some of the angles they came in from, but that’s the way it works on the day.

“We’ve got to make sure we can combat that. We will definitely be looking at that area of the game and making sure we improve next week.

“To release the pressure straight after a score is something we’ve got to look at. We have to make sure we get right for next week and for other games.”

The All Blacks head to Scotland next week before rounding off their trip to Europe by playing England at Twickenham on November 26.

Head coach Ian Foster said: “We are delighted. It’s always a tough Test match, so to come here and play the way we played is great.

“I love the patience we showed. They had moments and put us under pressure, but we stayed patient and came though.”

Asked if they had next year’s World Cup in France on their mind, Foster added: “A little bit. But Test rugby is about the here and now.”


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Barry Taylor
Barry Taylor
1 year ago

That’s all very well for him to say to the media, but this should have been addressed in training long before the All Blacks game. After every loss he and his team say the same things, but clearly not much has actually been done about it.

With a few exceptions, Wales showed very little in the way of attacking flair and even less in terms of defence. New Zealand didn’t win that game; Wales lost it.

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