Acting Welsh skipper Jonathan Thomas said his team were now looking forward to returning to Hamilton next year for the Rugby World Cup after ending on a high in their second Test against the All Blacks at the Waikato Stadium.
Even though the home side snatched a try with the last move of the match from replacement outside half Aaron Cruden to end 29-10 victors, Wales stuck to their task far more impressively than in Dunedin the previous weekend when they lost 42-9.
“All week we spoke about trying to gain some respect. We were bitterly disappointed at how we fell off some tackles last week,” explained Jonathan Thomas, who took over the captaincy after Ryan Jones had limped off with a thigh injury.
“We played with better intensity this week and we were more competitive in aspects of the game. We were disappointed with the try in the end but. Having been criticised for our fitness last week, I think we showed there isn’t too much of a problem there.
“We just need to keep on learning and improving. We had a great reception in Hamilton and we are looking forward to coming back here in 12 months and try to be even more competitive.”
All Blacks skipper Ricchie McCaw was upset at conceding a try to Wales, but confessed to being happy with three consecutive defeats against Ireland and Wales twice.
“We expected it to be hard fought and it was a tough test match. It was safe enough in the end but we struggled to get our game going,” said All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw.
“It would have been nice to stop them crossing our line, but we had pretty good defence for a while. They had a good idea what they were doing at scrum time and that’s something we will have to work on.
“We have played some good rugby in parts in our three games to date and we are pretty happy where we are going into the Tri Nations.”
