England will be Wales’ biggest challenge of the RWC campaign to date, but Taylor is un-daunted by the prospect of meeting the Six Nations champions and World Cup favourites.
“We certainly now know that we are capable of living with sides like that and there’s no reason for us to doubt ourselves,” said the 41-times capped Scarlet.
“I think we restored pride in the Welsh nation with the performance against the All Blacks, but at the end of the day we didn’t win, so we’ve got to be realistic about that.
“I suppose confidence is the biggest key now. We’ve got a lot of confidence back in the side that we are capable of pulling out a performance like that.”
“The confidence is there and I think finally self belief can come through and perhaps if we’re in a similar situation next time – 10 minutes to go and being in touch with one of the best sides in the world – then perhaps we can do the right thing and actually win the game.”
And Taylor thinks England will be even tougher opposition than New Zealand, if only because of the way his side performed against the All Blacks.
“We probably have done them a favour now,” added Taylor. “We probably will focus their minds back on the task.
“For us it’s another step up again … we’ve got to somehow now dig deeper and put in a better performance again.”
