“For Wales the crushing weight of history is very much dressed in black”
THE NEXT Welsh date with doom is Saturday 30 October 2021 at the Principality Stadium. There is good reason for the whole nation to shiver. The All Blacks will be in town.
In the early years of the rivalry between the two rugby nations, there was nothing to indicate what would happen in the future. In the first four matches, Wales won three and lost one. Indeed, it was only in 1963 at the old Arms Park that New Zealand won a Test in Cardiff for the first time, by all of 6-0. At that stage, there was a parity between the teams and an expectation of very close matches.
What would Welsh rugby followers have felt in 1963 as they filed out, if they had known that by 2021, Wales would not have gained their fourth win? That they would still be waiting 68 years after last beating the All Blacks, in 1953, to triumph again? Frankly, in all those years Wales have
