State of the Nation: ‘Honeymoon over’ for Steve Tandy as Wales ‘review is akin to an obituary’
A distraught Wales player hides his face following another Springbok try and, inset, Tom Rogers scores versus the All Blacks
Following the conclusion of the 2025 Autumn Nations Series, we are updating you on the state of the participating nations. Next up, it’s Steve Tandy’s Wales.
New coach, fresh optimism was how beleaguered Wales arrived at their four-match November schedule. It was July in Kobe, in their final match of the depressing 2024/25 season that included the departure of head coach Warren Gatland, when the Welsh finally secured a silver lining – a first Test match win in 644 days and an end to their 18-match losing streak.
That allowed them to share the two-match series with Japan, and the hope was that Tandy, the former Scotland assistant who was appointed as the new Welsh head coach some weeks later, now had a platform to try and build on in the autumn.
Interim coach Matt Sherratt had left with kudos for his rescue mission effort. There was a general increase in the level of Welsh fight and organisation in some of the five matches he was at the helm, and it was September when he committed to return to the fold as Tandy’s attack guru.
The Welsh attack went on to have some moments when Principality Stadium fans were jumping for joy – how good was it seeing Tom Rogers scoring a try hat-trick versus the All Blacks and, of course, that last-gasp, Jarrod Evans penalty winner versus Japan – but there were far too many deficiencies across the entire operation to feel confident about a 2026 Six Nations that dauntingly begins with February 7 trip to England and then arrival of France in Cardiff eight days later.
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Autumn Nations Series summary
It only took one half of rugby for the fingers that Welsh fans had crossed in the hope of better times to give way to despairing shakes of the fist. Argentina came to play on November 9 and while tries from Tomos Williams and Dewi Lake had Wales level at one stage, they exited down the half-time tunnel trailing 14-31 and set for a record loss.
When referee Ben O’Keeffe’s final whistle blew, the margin of defeat was 24 points, 28-52, and its effects were negative, given the caginess of their performance six days later when hosting the Japanese.
In difficult times, you want composure from your more experienced players, but the sight of Josh Adams getting red-carded summed up an exasperating Welsh display where they would have been beaten but for Harry Hockings’ daft tackle on Alex Mann just seconds before the clock crept over the 80.
This allowed Wales the lifeline that saw them kick to touch from halfway and build the pressure that resulted in another penalty, providing Evans with the points to snatch his team a one-point win from the jaws of what was set to be a two-point defeat.
As momentarily joyous as that outcome was, the Test rugby reality of Wales’ status way down the pecking order was set to smack them in the face with the arrival of the All Blacks followed by the Springboks. There was an endearing level of defiance for a time against New Zealand, and Wales were remarkably trailing by just three points early in the second half.
However, they were soon swatted aside, losing 26-52, and they then imploded the following weekend when restricted to selecting a team consisting of home-based United Rugby Championship players.
It was horrible seeing their second-half capitulation against South Africa, but the brutality of their 0-73 defeat was a sharp reminder to those resisting change in the professional game in Wales.
Minds that are closed and steadfastly against radical upheaval in the regional set-up have to open, or these types of damaging Test-level hammerings will only continue.
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Standout players
After being the sole Welsh contributor to the British and Irish Lions’ Test series victory in Australia, the hope was to see Jac Morgan skipper Wales to a November revival, but he was unfortunately injured out of the series in the opening defeat to Argentina.
Despite only lasting 55 minutes, the match finished with him still leading his team’s ball carry count, and his absence demanded that others stood up to be counted. There were some straws to clutch, particularly the quartet who started all four matches.
Forwards Dewi Lake and Alex Mann offered a nuisance value that can’t be underestimated when the reputation of their team is at such a low ebb (the defiant duo were credited with a combined total of 153 tackles), while the wish will be that the painful back-to-the-wall tuition that rookie fly-half Dan Edwards is experiencing will be a rich long-run dividend.
Blair Murray, the fourth and final every-match starter, also applied some fleeting polish at full-back, but not enough to glue together a collectively tattered defence wounded by indiscipline and missed tackles.
Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard were solid at times as a lock partnership in their three appearances together; the figure of 62 tackles from Jenkins hinted at his lead-by-action leadership. Tomos Williams, who was cruelly injured early on the Lions tour, also showed he can bring tempo.
Max Llewellyn and Ben Thomas were given another three games together to build their midfield connection, and it was nourishment for the soul to see Louis Rees-Zammit back in the Welsh jersey after his American football affair; he still has that sass and skill that gets people cheering.
Witnessing the 31-year-old Olly Cracknell get the man-of-the-match award against Japan was also a lesson in how to patiently wait your turn for a first start and then bear-like grab hold of it.
Our loudest shout-out, though, must clearly go to winger Tom Rogers. His try hat-trick against the All Blacks was a coming-of-age moment and showed that this Welsh team, despite its collective vulnerabilities and shortcomings, still had the tact to get the ball wide and get their man over in the corner. Well played.
Stat leaders
Edwards topped the Welsh points charts, accounting for 17 of their 78 points. The fly-half needed a try to add to his half-dozen conversions to finish two points ahead of the Rogers and his 15-point try hat-trick. There were also two tries for Rees-Zammit on his rugby return.
The remarkable Welsh points stat was that just three of their points across the entire four-match series came courtesy of a penalty kick.
Just a solitary successful penalty kick in 320 minutes of rugby was remarkable. In fairness, it was an invaluable score as it won them their match at the death against Japan, but the absence of three-pointers highlighted how the Welsh don’t have the possession or the territory to build their score through kicks. That’s a major miss in their armoury.
Given Wales’ status as a badly out-of-sorts side losing way too many games, defence was always going to be a priority this autumn, and flanker Mann set the tone with his chart-topping 81 in four games followed by hooker Lake on 72.
Taine Plumtree would also get praise for his tackling energy, given that he made 40 in his appearances against the All Blacks and the Springboks. However, indiscipline was a report-blotting issue as he was yellow-carded in both matches and this numerical imbalance severely wounded his team’s defence.
Card trouble was a feature across Wales’ entire November, with a total of six yellows and a red hurting them. The penalty count told a painful tale, the Welsh conceding 49 to the opposition 29. That is huge work-on for them, how to absorb pressure without getting penalised too much.
Defence is Tandy’s specialism, having worked in this area for years with the Scots, so he needs to get his finger out here and get confidence-drained players trusting in his system.
Wales scored 11 tries, which reflected well on assistant Sherratt until it came to getting ‘nilled’ by the Springboks. The concession of 25 tries – including seven each to Argentina and New Zealand and a whopping 11 to South Africa – also stood out like a broken thumb, never mind a sore one.
However, the statistic we will sign off on in this section wasn’t from the field of play; it was how fans voted with their feet across the month.
The Principality is a 74,500 capacity stadium, but the WRU couldn’t sell it out even once. Attendances of 50,185 (Argentina), 61,324 (Japan), 68,388 (New Zealand) and 50,112 (South Africa) meant 67,991 seats were left unsold. That’s lost potential revenue that the Welsh game can’t afford.
Success story
Looking for something to fit the bill here is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, as this Welsh review is, in general, akin to an obituary. However, in Rees-Zammit, there is a box-office talent capable of bringing back absent fans.
There was always the fear that the winger coming back to rugby would be very different from the player who abruptly left it in January 2024 to chase an American football dream. The demands of that sport would have rusted his rugby ability and also altered his physique.
In the end, though, Wales got their rugby Rees-Zammit back, and he demonstrated in his finishing against the Japanese and the All Blacks that he retained the capacity to excite and get spectators off their seats.
This finishing prowess wasn’t universally popular with the Welsh; it was bewildering that the 24-year-old was booed at Scarlets last weekend when playing for Bristol. However, when he is in the Wales shirt, he is a Hollywood attraction and his return was lovely.
Main regret
If only that out-of-window South African match hadn’t been played, Tandy would have got out of his first block of matches in charge with Wales having won one of three matches and performed well for a period of time against the All Blacks.
However, having to field a team minus players based outside Wales illustrated how threadbare the regional talent pool is. It’s obvious how their pathway system needs a major overhaul to ensure the national team doesn’t continue to get exposed like this, but that is a long-term fix.
Instead, Tandy’s major winter task is to try to construct a game plan that limits his team’s vulnerabilities from getting repeatedly exposed. Given he was arriving in the job from outside the WRU system, the new head coach will be allowed plenty of excuses for his underwhelming November, but this honeymoon period is now definitely over and there are no more exemptions.
There were too many occasions when you looked at Wales over the November and felt they weren’t a well-coached side; that their environment was much too tolerant of repeated failures and errors. What was negatively inherited from the flop Gatland 2:0 era has to be flushed from the system… and quickly.
Without developing his own style and breaking this Wales team away from its dark recent past, Tandy will struggle to stamp his mark and make this team his own. That was the main November regret, and the task is to ensure the same thing isn’t said in March when the Six Nations has ended. Tandy-ball has to materialise.
Results
Wales v Argentina (Argentina won 52-28)
Wales v Japan (Wales won 24-23)
Wales v Australia (Australia won 52-26)
Wales v South Africa (South Africa won 73-0)
