Wales would have fancied their chances of making the Cup knockout stages at Westpac Stadium last weekend but defeats to Argentina (12-19) and Fiji (7-33) ended their hopes so the 33-28 victory over Japan proved academic as Williams’ side dropped down to the Bowl competition on day two.
Wales gifted Samoa a 24-0 halftime lead in the Bowl quarter-final but to their credit Sam Cross and Luke Morgan gave their side hope with two tries apiece in the second spell to send the game into extra time where the South Sea Islanders snuck home.
Wales then ran out of puff against Russia where they suffered a 17-0 defeat to leave New Zealand deflated.
“The level of inconsistency we showed in our performances were a major concern at this stage,” said an exasperated Williams. “We were hugely excited with the opportunity our group posed, and the first match was a prime example of our inconsistency.
“Tackle completion was a hugely disappointing facet of our performances and an unacceptable weakness that we will be working hard to rectify in Sydney.
“The lack of urgency at the start of the Samoa and Russia matches cost us dearly on day two, and dealing with these factors and tournament intensity on day two is something we drastically need to get an inexperienced squad up to speed with.
“The disappointment is magnified following the preparation phase and consistency of the squad from the previous legs. The challenge now is to regroup and ensure we can increase the consistency of the positive examples of play being produced at times.”
Wales go in to the fourth round as the least experienced side in the competition with a total of 88 tournaments between the 12-man squad with Sam Cross (21) and Luke Morgan (20) nearly possessing half the caps between them.
This weekend Wales take on England (178 tournaments between their squad), USA (202) and Japan (92).
