All Blacks wary of Wales' physical midfield ahead of Nations Championship clash in Cardiff

New Zealand head into Saturday’s Nations Championship fixture against Wales at Principality Stadium knowing a victory alone will not be enough, with South Africa’s superior points differential — currently 67 points ahead — demanding the All Blacks win and win convincingly.

The Test falls in the penultimate round of the pool stage in the inaugural Nations Championship. Wales arrive with a record of two wins and two losses, most recently a 28-21 bonus-point victory over Japan, while New Zealand remain unbeaten after dismantling Scotland last weekend.

Outside back Josh Moorby, who is in line for his ninth cap of the season, identified Wales’ physicality as the central challenge. “They’re a big midfield, fast outside backs, good front pack,” he said. “So yeah, they’ll be bringing a pretty physical game, and we’ll be getting ready this week for that.”

Moorby’s assessment is backed by the numbers from Wales’ win over Japan. Centre Eddie James made 12 carries while his midfield partner Max Llewellyn completed 18 tackles, underlining the workload the Welsh centres are capable of absorbing and inflicting.

Despite the warning, Moorby was measured in his respect for the hosts. “We massively respect them, they’re a high-quality squad,” he said. “We’re looking at a lot of things that we can do better from the weekend just gone; we’ll be attacking this week with a lot of intent.”

On attack, New Zealand showed encouraging signs against Scotland, scoring four of their seven tries directly from first-phase strike plays. Moorby, who broke Super Rugby Pacific’s single-season try-scoring record earlier in 2026 before adding five more for the All Blacks, explained the detail that goes into those set pieces. “We draw them up pretty early in the week and really try and nail them down — all the finer detail within them. It’s very pleasing to put those moves onto the paddock and score from them.”

Another area under scrutiny is the All Blacks’ aerial game, a weakness exposed during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. Moorby’s selection has been partly driven by his competence under the high ball, and he credited sustained training focus for recent improvements. “The last few weeks we’ve been really successful at that, and I think it’s just been down to the effort we’re putting in at the end of training and during training, putting ourselves in those positions and making sure we’re winning those the majority of the time.”