Wales: The new era of Steve Tandy aims to lift Wales out of the doldrums

Wales will be hoping to return the Principality Stadium to a local fortress, having not won an international match in Cardiff for 27 months.

Since beating England in a World Cup warm-up match in August 2023, Wales have suffered nine successive Test defeats at home, a losing record that has stretched to 827 days.

Wales’ last match in Cardiff was eight months ago – a horrific 68-14 home defeat in the Six Nations inflicted on England.

It was a record loss for the home side in the Welsh capital, the most points they have conceded at the Principality Stadium, their biggest defeat in a Six Nations, a record loss in the Championship, and the most points conceded by a team against England.

So Wales has to redeem itself in a land that is no longer a fortress. Tandy’s side face Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa in November, ahead of 2026 home Six Nations matches against France, Scotland and Italy, in a tournament Wales last won at home in February 2022.

How many fans will turn out to watch Tandy’s side this month remains to be seen given the current discontent surrounding the Welsh fixture.

The Emirate Stadium has a capacity of 74,500, meaning the four matches could attract a maximum of 298,000 fans in November.

Wales’ match against the All Blacks is currently the only fixture close to a sell-out.

There have been many stories anecdotally about some tickets now being available at a discounted price and even being given away for free.

It is the responsibility of the WRU to try to attract fans who have been carried away by disappointment from what they saw on the field and read about off the field.