Steve Hansen yesterday issued a warning to World Cup quarter-final opponents England: There’s more to come!
Wales went down 53-37 to the All Blacks in Sydney but only after giving the tournament favourites the shock of their life.
Even without key players Wales scored 24 unanswered points during 10 sensational minutes before New Zealand hit back late in the game.
It was the performance that a nation had been calling out for and the Wales coach has urged his team to prove it was no flash in the pan against England on Sunday.
“Obviously we’re very proud but at the end of the day we didn’t win the game. That’s frustrating but in realistic terms it was a good performance and proves what we’re doing back home is working.
“Now we’ve got to back it up on Sunday.
“The best measure of a team is against the best in the world and at times the All Blacks attack was very good – but so were we.
“I think this showed that we have closed the gap a little but now we’ve got another top nation and it’s going to be interesting to see if we can step up again.”
The performance will certainly relieve some of the pressure on the coach following a difficult year that now sees Wales one step away from the World Cup semi-finals.
Wales have certainly won the respect of the All Blacks and coach John Mitchell tipped them to push England all the way.
He said: “Without a doubt Wales can beat England. Anyone who experienced a Wales-England international knows it’s not very forgiving.
“But this is not at Twickenham and Wales will take a lot from their performance against us as well as confidence.”
Wales are, however, awaiting the X-ray results on Sonny Parker’s shoulder while Garan Evans was also taken to hospital with suspected concussion.
