The former rugby league star has only offered brief glimpses to justify the £1 million spent on bringing him to the land of his grandfather – until now.
Just days after turning down a big-money offer to return to rugby league, Harris produced the sort of mercurial performance he had promised for so long and that a desperate nation had been crying out for.
After his one-man demolition job on hapless Canada, Wales coach Steve Hansen said Harris had ‘turned a corner’ and feels that this tournament will be the stage from which to launch himself.
And after two years learning his trade, Harris agrees.
‘It’s been frustrating at times as even though I’m 27 it has felt like an apprenticeship but I’ve done all the hard graft that had to be done and hopefully this is my time,’ said Harris.
‘I always had a time frame in my mind of how long it was going to take for me to fully make the transition and this World Cup was always the target. So far I can easily say that it was worth the wait.
‘There was always bound to be pressure with the price tag and every player is going to get good and bad press during his career, it’s something you have got to live with.
‘But it’s not something that I have let get to me, at least I don’t think so, and now I just feel very comfortable with everything about rugby union.’
The stage that Hansen alluded to is certainly now perfectly set for him after lighting up the Melbourne Telstra Dome on Sunday with a perfect seven out of seven kicks and a hand in four of Wales’ five tries.
It was a performance that even caught the eye of Wallaby legend David Campese who usually takes as much enjoyment in verbally bashing the Home Nations as he did scoring against them.
‘I thought Iestyn Harris was very good indeed against Canada,’ said the World Cup winner.
‘He tried different things and by and large they paid off. That was great to see because you do no often see that from Wales.
‘They are a limited team and made a lot of mistakes for a team that trains every day but they should follow his lead at this World Cup.’
And Wales fans are backing Harris after his perfect performance is Sunday’s game. A staggering 92 per cent of voters in the wru.co.uk poll rated him as Wales’ man-of-the-match.
