The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
New Zealand are set to make a raft of changes against Wales(Image: CameraSport)
Here are your rugby evening headlines Monday, November 17.
All Blacks to make mass changes for Wales clash
The All Blacks are set to ring the changes ahead of this weekend’s showdown with Wales, with head coach Scott Robertson expected to overhaul his matchday squad following their bruising defeat to England.
That’s the line coming out of New Zealand, with Stuff.co.nz reporting that “wholesale changes” are on the way as the visitors attempt to reset after their Grand Slam hopes were crushed at Twickenham.
New Zealand fell 33-19 to Steve Borthwick’s men after blowing a 12-0 lead, marking England’s first win over the All Blacks at home in 13 years. Now, with Welsh opponents waiting in Cardiff, Robertson faces growing scrutiny from fans and media alike – and knows another slip-up would deepen concerns less than two years from the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Robertson, who signed a four-year deal after replacing Ian Foster post-2023 World Cup, insists the All Blacks will not shy away from the criticism. He also pushed back on any suggestion that the team is losing momentum on his watch.
“All I can say is we’ve got a team that cares deeply about the black jersey,” he told New Zealand media. “We will work tirelessly to be warriors on the field and champions off it.
“We haven’t got the results we’ve worked really hard for and we can feel it just like the fans do.”
The Wales Test will close out New Zealand’s 2025 campaign before the squad returns home for reviews and an extended break until July. Robertson says there is “18 months to get it right” before Australia 2027, and remains adamant his players are committed to improving.
Robertson was asked if he still had confidence in his coaching staff amid growing pressure and replied: “Of course I do.
“We pick these guys and we know we have got a group with an incredible work ethic. We have been experienced enough to understand what test footy is all about.
“And we spend a lot of time making sure the players get as much as they can into them, that’s required for Test level. And we will be looking at it, again, for sure.”
Despite the pressure, the expectation in New Zealand is still for the All Blacks to beat Wales, who ended a long drought with victory over Japan on Sunday. A win in Cardiff would give Robertson’s men a 10-3 record for the year, although critics in New Zealand argue it won’t paper over deeper cracks.
Springboks coach accuses officials of not treating them fairly
South Africa have accused match officials of treating them differently to other teams after two Springboks players were shown permanent red cards in consecutive Tests.
Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick delivered a blunt assessment after the world champions arrived in Dublin for this weekend’s showdown with Ireland, saying decisions in recent weeks have left the squad “disappointed” and feeling unfairly targeted.
The Boks have finished their last two matches against France and Italy with 14 men, with second rows Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert both sent off for high tackles. De Jager has already received a three-match ban, which South Africa are appealing, while Mostert faces a disciplinary hearing in the coming days.
Speaking at the team’s first media session of the week, Stick said the situation is becoming impossible to ignore.
“As a team, we are just disappointed with how things are flowing at the moment,” he said. “Every week we are losing players and it’s sad.”
Stick pointed to the Mostert incident in Turin as an example of inconsistency, arguing that similar tackles elsewhere at the weekend were punished with only yellow cards.
“If you are saying that Franco Mostert is a red card, then surely there were supposed to be more than five red cards across the games,” he said. “All of a sudden, other situations become yellow card and we are just disappointed with the way things are being handled.
“They try to do everything by the book. Sometimes you don’t get it perfect, but for them to say the tackle was never legal, it’s disappointing.”
Referee Angus Gardner of Australia gives a red card to Lodewyk De Jager of South Africa (Image: Getty Images)
Stick also claimed outside interference during the Italy match led to a flurry of marginal calls going against the Springboks.
“There were probably about 21 decisions that were supposed to be made in the first half. Twenty of them went against us,” he said. “Not because of the ref – he has to respect the comms from his team outside.”
He even apologised to Italy, saying the contest had the potential to be “a beautiful game of rugby” before officiating overshadowed it.
Asked directly whether the Springboks feel they are being treated unfairly, Stick pointed to further recent sanctions handed to Makazole Mapimpi and Jan-Hendrik Wessels while on URC duty, saying those suspensions added to a growing sense of frustration.
“Makazole Mapimpi missed an opportunity to reach 50 Test caps. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, a youngster, also missed out,” he said. “And when you compare some of the incidents we’ve seen in other games – situations even worse than what our guys have been suspended for – other players will come back and play this week.”
“Surely somewhere, somehow this is not fair and I don’t think we deserve this as a team.
“So, are we treated fairly? I don’t think so.”
Scotland star baffled after collapse against Argentina
By Anthony Brown, PA
Rory Darge admitted he is perplexed at how Scotland allowed themselves to unravel so spectacularly in Sunday’s dire defeat by Argentina.
The Scots looked to be cruising to victory as they led 21-0 midway through the third quarter, but the Pumas hit back with five tries in the closing 24 minutes to claim a remarkable 33-24 victory.
The nature of the capitulation – met with booing from sections of the capacity Murrayfield crowd – has brought fresh focus on the position of long-serving head coach Gregor Townsend. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“It was a quiet changing room afterwards,” said vice-captain Darge. “21-0 up and it felt that way, we felt like we were on top. It was a massive momentum swing and we struggled to stem the flow. The guys on the pitch are the ones that have to do better. “
Asked how a match could turn so dramatically, Darge said: “I don’t know.
“It’s not good enough really from us. Watching it back, I’m sure there will be loads in there from 21-0 onwards that we can do so much better.”
Darge felt Scotland picked up where they left off in the second half of their spirited 25-17 defeat by New Zealand the previous week as they bossed the Pumas for the first 50 minutes.
But the Glasgow back-rower acknowledged his side became flustered when the visitors started finding their way back into the game and admits that they need to remain far more clear-headed when faced with such adversity.
“We’re constantly looking at ways to get better and I think we had a massive carry-over from last week in what worked for us,” said Darge.
“21-0 up, putting them under stress and on top from an attack point of view, from a defence point of view, set piece.
“Now, obviously, what we need to look at is how we keep our composure in that last 30 minutes when we’re so far ahead.
“Maybe a bit of an understanding of what Test match rugby is like from us in those moments. You have to be ruthless, particularly against a team as good as Argentina. If you’re not, they can score tries. We just weren’t good enough in that last half hour.
“We obviously need to do our absolute utmost to be more composed in that moment and go on to make it 28-0. But (if you don’t) you’ve just got to flush that and move on and go and make the next bit of action positive.
“We need to watch the game back and let it hurt over the next wee while and during the reviews and then quickly the mindset will flip on to Tonga (next Sunday).”
Ireland boss Farrell: I never doubted us
By Edward Elliot, PA
Andy Farrell says he has never doubted Ireland’s quality during a patchy autumn campaign as his side seek to sign off on a high against world champions South Africa.
Ireland produced their best display of the month on Saturday evening to register a record 46-19 win over Australia.
Head coach Farrell criticised his team’s performances following a 26-13 defeat to New Zealand on November 1 and a disjointed 41-10 win over Japan a week later.
“We’re a very good side, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“You could put in all sorts of reasons of why the first performance or the second performance (was not up to scratch) or whatever but that’s never been in doubt, in my mind anyway.”
South Africa, who top the world rankings and have won 21 of 25 matches since retaining the World Cup in 2023, are due in Dublin on Saturday evening.
Ireland have won four of the past five meetings between the nations.
“You always want to test yourself against the best,” said Farrell.
“Certainly in this moment in time, South Africa are definitely the best and we relish that sort of opportunity to see where we’re at.
“Everyone’s talking about them and the type of rugby that they’re playing.
“They’ve played some brilliant stuff. It’s a fantastic way to finish off our autumn.”
Mack Hansen’s hat-trick set Ireland on course for the six-try success against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies at a rain-soaked Aviva Stadium before scores from Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw sealed victory.
Farrell feels a greater performance will likely be required to upset the Springboks.
“I don’t think it (the Australia display) will necessarily be enough,” he said.
“But I like the way that we got out of the way of ourselves.
“Last week (against Japan), we talked about after a couple of errors we just went within ourselves a little bit and it didn’t happen this week.
“There were plenty of mistakes – it’s always going to happen in Test match rugby anyway, never mind with the conditions the way they were.”
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