Wales v New Zealand: Seven decades of Welsh suffering against the All Blacks

Windsor described the match as the worst day of his career. He added: “I knew immediately it was a scam. When we later found out that they had planned it the night before, I was really affected by it. I will never forget it as long as I live.”

It would take 26 years for Wales to come close to ending their losing streak.

In contrast to 1978, few expected much from the young Wales team of 2004, which did little to impress despite scoring a record 37 points against the All Blacks in a World Cup defeat in Australia the previous year.

Under new coach Mike Ruddock and with rising young star Gavin Henson in their ranks, Wales played with abandon and took the lead in the first half through tries from Tom Shanklin and Mevyn Davies.

New Zealand, who surged into play, had Joe Rokokoko, the toughest player on the planet at the time, to thank for two brilliant individual tries. But for once, Wales refused to give in and would have delivered a shock had it not been for disastrous timekeeping.

Wales, who moved back to one point after Henson’s kick, thought stoppage time would come on the stadium clock, which in fact showed the correct time on the referee’s clock.

With seconds to go, Stephen Jones kicked the ball wide and Wales never had another chance, prevailing 26-25.

“It’s actually more painful and frustrating now, looking back, than it was then,” said top scorer Shanklin. “We’ve had some tough years, so I was actually quite happy that we didn’t get beaten and didn’t put in a great display.

“But looking back, you now realize how close we came to making history. However, the result was that the fall season prepared us for another part of history with the Grand Slam the following year.”