Steve Tandy wants Wales looking at themselves, not at the All Blacks, when the three-time world champions come to Cardiff on Saturday.
New Zealand have won the last 34 meetings between the sides. The head coach said: “You look at World Cups and everything; the former players they’ve had, there’s always that aura around the All Blacks.”
He added: “But I think for our boys, it’s been trying to look in the mirror more at what we can do.”
‘You can get too drawn to that’
Tandy remembers the build-up to the last meeting at the Principality Stadium, and the haka he called “an unbelievable experience for fans”.
He said: “For us, it’s got to be about ourselves. I think you can get too sort of drawn to that.”
Wales lost that game 52-26 last year, but Tandy believes they were in it for most of the afternoon.
He said: “I thought a lot of last year’s game up until probably 60 minutes we were in the game; we played our game. We attacked the way we wanted to, so that’ll be no different come Saturday.”
‘They’ve gone up a level’
The All Blacks are unbeaten in the Nations Championship after a 43-21 win over Scotland at Murrayfield last Saturday. Scotland didn’t score a point in the second half.
Tandy thinks they are better than the side Wales faced last year. He said: “The All Blacks are an unbelievable team; they’ve got an unbelievable squad, have been together for a long time.”
He added: “They’re superbly coached by Dave [Rennie] and culturally everything about them. I think they’ve gone up a level since we played them last as well.”
Wales’ 28-21 win over Japan on the same day was far from convincing, and Tandy wanted more ruthlessness afterwards.
He still saw progress: “I thought we showed some good intent on the weekend, scored some really good tries, and defence improved particularly around that mid-third of the pitch.”
Hamer-Webb in for Adams
Leicester wing Gabriel Hamer-Webb replaces Josh Adams, who scored twice against Japan.
It is one of four changes to the side. Tandy said four Tests in a row is “a pretty big ask for players”.
He added: “There will be some players in the squad who will do the four, but again, it’s an opportunity to find out about others.”
He had high praise for Adams, and compared him to Aaron Wainwright: “Josh has been outstanding, very similar to Waino. I think what he brings off the field as well is massive to the group.”
Tandy said Adams went back to play for Cardiff the week before Japan because he wanted a starting berth, and “in fairness he handled that really well”.
Hamer-Webb is one of several wings pushing for a shirt, with Tandy also naming Ellis Mee, Macs Page and Tommy Rogers. He said: “We feel it’s a great opportunity for Gabe to come in this weekend.”
A visit from the world rally champion
New World Rally Champion Elfyn Evans spent time with the squad this week. Tandy said Wales want to “connect more to our nation” through “inspirational people outside of the rugby”.
He said: “World Rally Champion from Wales. I think it’s an incredible achievement, but also, if you look at his backstory, the resilience he’s shown.”
Tandy said the players asked “lots of great questions” about what they could take from it, “not just this weekend, but where we’re going to go in the future as well”.
Wales v New Zealand kicks off at 2.10pm on Saturday, live on ITV and S4C.
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