Wales vs New Zealand Preview & Prediction | 2026 Nations Championship | Round 5
by Trystan Pugh ·
Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
The All Blacks arrive at the Principality Stadium on Saturday chasing a 35th successive win over Wales.
Start date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – ITV / USA – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – ITVX / USA – RugbyPass TV
Wales team news: Basham and Botham in as Wainwright misses out
Squad: Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Gabriel Hamer-Webb; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (capt), Archie Griffin; Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard; James Botham, Jac Morgan, Taine Basham
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Gareth Thomas, Dillon Lewis, Ben Carter, Taine Plumtree, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards, Louie Hennessey
New Zealand team news: Barrett captains, Mo’unga starts at fly-half
Squad: Beauden Barrett (capt); Fehi Fineanganofo, Quinn Tupaea, Anton Lienert-Brown, Josh Moorby; Richie Mo'unga, Cortez Ratima; George Bower, Asafo Aumua, Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Josh Lord; Anton Segner, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi
Replacements: George Bell, Xavier Numia, Pasilio Tosi, Jamie Hannah, Ethan Blackadder, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Kyle Preston, Rieko Ioane
Who will win?
Open poll and resultsWales vs New Zealand prediction
Wales did enough to beat Japan 28-21 last weekend, but it was far from convincing. The win moved Steve Tandy’s side up to ten points in the Northern Hemisphere table, although the head coach was not happy afterwards as he criticised the performance of his men.
New Zealand have won all four of their Nations Championship matches so far as they compete with South Africa for top spot in the Southern Hemisphere table. Dave Rennie’s side beat Scotland 43-21 at Murrayfield last weekend, scoring seven tries, with Beauden Barrett grabbing two of them and now captaining the side in Cardiff.
Tandy wants his players to ignore the pressure, even if he accepts there’s an undeniable aura around the All Blacks. The visitors are overwhelming favourites and have scored 50 or more points in each of their last three meetings with Wales. Louis Rees-Zammit and Gabriel Hamer-Webb give the hosts some pace to threaten out wide, so a few Welsh tries are possible, but with the visitors expected to run in plenty of their own, we are backing over 69.5 total points.
Wales vs New Zealand tip: Over 69.5 total points
