After back-to-back wins over Georgia and – crucially – Australia, Warren Gatland’s side face Fiji on Wednesday looking to make it three straight successes.
By helping his team down the Wallabies, Moriarty followed in the footsteps of both his father Paul and uncle Richard who beat Australia at the first World Cup in 1987.
“It was a very tough Test. We had a great start, got points on the board, but the second half was completely different,” said Moriarty of Wales’ thrilling 29-25 win at Tokyo Stadium.
“Both teams were looking to play a lot in the first half. In the second Australia tightened up a lot more and tried to go through the middle of us, but I thought the defensive effort from the boys was unbelievable. We’ve now got a bench coming on which could potentially be the starting team.
“That’s a big thing for us and it’s good knowing we’ve got players who can come off the bench who are frontline players. For the fans it was an exciting game and a great game to be involved in.
“When you win those tight games it makes it a lot more special. Last time we won a World Cup game against Australia was in 1987 – that was a special game for me.
“My dad and my uncle were in the 1987 team that were the last ones to beat Australia at a World Cup. My parents came out for this game. They have gone home now, but it was a special day for me.
“Dad’s very emotional when it comes to me playing rugby, especially for Wales.
“To be involved at this World Cup was a big one. They just know, bench or start, when I’ve come off I will have given everything – that’s all they know I can do.”
Moriarty is equally comfortable on the blindside flank or at No 8 and is at his second World Cup after playing in the 2015 tournament at the start of his international career.
“Four years ago it was my first campaign. It was all very new to me and there were a lot of experienced players who aren’t involved now,” he said.
“But we’ve been building for this for the last two years. We’ve had a lot of younger boys and new caps come in and they’ve stepped up and done really well.
“You can see that by how many wins we’ve had. Before that you probably wouldn’t have seen so many changes in the team, but the coaching staff have done a great job in getting the players right.”
Moriarty started 28 of his 29 Tests going into Japan and has appeared off the bench for the two tournament games to date with Georgia and Australia.
He has been praised for his team work, professionalism and support by head coach Gatland and is determined to help his colleagues to get to the top.
“I’ve started a lot of games in the last few campaigns. To be on the bench is obviously disappointing,” Moriarty said. “I’ve got quite a lot of experience and 36 caps.
“I’ve started a lot of those games, but coming off the bench I’m aiming to give the boys energy.
“The bigger picture is to help the team. We want to push each other as hard as we can and when we have to smash each other, we just smash each other.
“It’s 100 per cent in training because we know that’s the best way to prepare.”
Wales’ next game is with Fiji on Wednesday and Moriarty added: “We are concentrating on Fiji now – we know how dangerous they are. We have a very short turnaround then to Uruguay and we aren’t going to get too far ahead of ourselves. You never know what’s going to happen.
“We can take a lot of confidence from that Australia game, but we want to go four from four in this pool.”
