Windsor described the game as the worst day of his career. He added: “I knew straight away that it was a con job. When we found out later that they had planned it the night before, that really got to me. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
It would be 26 years until Wales would come as close to ending the losing run.
In contrast to 1978, few expected much of a young Wales side in 2004 that had done little to impress despite scoring a record 37 points against the All Blacks in defeat at the World Cup in Australia the previous year.
Under new head coach Mike Ruddock and with a rising young star, Gavin Henson, in their ranks, Wales played with abandon and led at half-time through tries by Tom Shanklin and Mefin Davies.
New Zealand, jolted into action, had Joe Rokocoko, the most potent player on the planet at the time, to thank for two wonderful solo tries. But for once, Wales refused to yield and could have pulled off a shock if not for some disastrous timekeeping.
Wales, back to within a point after Henson’s kick, thought there was injury time to come on the stadium clock, which in fact showed the correct time on the referee’s watch.
With seconds to go, Stephen Jones kicked the ball away and Wales never had another chance, edged out 26-25.
Try-scorer Shanklin said: “It’s actually more painful and frustrating now, when I look back, than it was at the time. We had been through some tough years so I was actually quite pleased that we hadn’t been hammered and put on a great show.
“But looking back, you realise now just how close we came to making history. However, the pay-off was that autumn campaign set us up for another piece of history with the Grand Slam the following year.”
