Gavin Henson has insisted Wales can build on their narrow defeat against South Africa by beating the All Blacks for the first time in over 50 years.
Neath-Swansea centre Henson scored two tries as Wales rallied against the Springboks before the Tri-Nations champions held on for a 38-36 victory at the Millennium Stadium.
For Wales, it was a case of so near and yet so far, after they had given New Zealand and England frights at last year’s World Cup.
Saturday’s match left Wales with a record of just one win in 18 Tests against the Springboks.
They now face minnows Romania on Friday before the sterner challenge of New Zealand, a team they have not beaten since 1953, the following week in Cardiff where Wales will look to end a run of 16 successive defeats against the All Blacks.
But Henson said the performance against the Tri-Nations champions had given Wales the confidence to beat New Zealand, a result that even the most ardent Welsh fan would regard as a major upset.
”It has given the team an extra belief that we can beat the All Blacks, Henson maintained.
”If we tighten up our defence early against New Zealand, which we didn’t do against South Africa, then we should have every chance.
”We let South Africa get too much of a lead.”
Wales were 23-6 down inside of half an hour.
”To be fair, we came back into it, and our backs showed we could do some damage.
”We can take a lot of positives out of that performance, and we are nearly there in terms of getting a win. I don’t see why we cannot go on from this.
”If we learn to tighten up, there is no reason why we cannot turn these close defeats into wins,” he added.
”We showed that our fitness levels were second to none, and we finished the game really strongly. Now we’ve had this game, and then Romania next Friday, we should be ready for the All Blacks.
”The feeling is that it is time we took a scalp.”
South Africa will now focus on becoming the first southern hemisphere side since Australia 20 years ago to complete a Grand Slam.
Their win against Ireland on Saturday owed much to full-back Percy Montgomery.
Now playing at Welsh side Newport, the 30-year-old scored 23 points, including one of the Springboks four tries.
”Wales took their chances from our mistakes,” Montgomery said.
”Before the game, we said that the way Wales would get into the game would be from our mistakes, and that’s exactly what happened.
It was a real awakening for us,” the 58-Test veteran added.
”I don’t think we were worried. We had to stick to the basics and get our game going, but we tried to play a wide game instead of a short game.”
Looking ahead, Montgomery warned Wales to expect a gruelling encounter on November 20.
”The All Blacks will be a tough game for Wales. The New Zealand backs are pretty strong and they like to play an expansive game, so Wales will need to close them down.” – Sapa-AFP