Tandy urges Wales to block out All Blacks aura ahead of Nations Championship clash

Wales head coach Steve Tandy has urged his squad to look inward rather than be consumed by the All Blacks’ aura as the two nations prepare to meet at the Principality Stadium on Saturday in the Nations Championship.

New Zealand arrive in Cardiff having beaten Scotland 43-21 last weekend and having won every Nations Championship fixture so far. They also hold an unbroken 34-match winning record against Wales — a statistic Tandy is determined not to let define his players’ mindset.

“You look at World Cups and everything, the former players they’ve had, there’s always that aura around the All Blacks,” Tandy said at a press conference. “But I think for our boys, it’s been trying to look in the mirror more at what we can do.”

Tandy pointed to last year’s meeting as a template for how Wales can compete. “I thought a lot of last year’s game up until probably 60 minutes we were in the game, we played our game. We attacked the way we wanted to, so that’ll be no different come Saturday.”

Wales edged Japan 28-21 the previous Saturday in a performance Tandy acknowledged was unconvincing, though he highlighted defensive improvement in the middle third of the pitch as a positive sign.

The head coach has made four changes for the New Zealand fixture. Taine Basham returns at number eight for his first Wales appearance since the 2024 Six Nations, coming in for Aaron Wainwright, who is sidelined with a minor calf injury. James Botham starts at blindside flanker, Adam Beard comes into the second row, and Gabriel Hamer-Webb is named on the wing.

Tandy acknowledged that New Zealand have raised their level since the sides last met, crediting head coach Dave Rennie and the squad’s cohesion. “They’re superbly coached with Dave and culturally everything about them. I think they’ve gone up a level since we played them last as well.”

Despite that assessment, the Wales coach insists the focus must remain on his own team’s execution. “For us it’s got to be about getting better and trying to put our game out there,” he said.