Wales coach Gareth Jenkins insisted his side would head into their decisive World Cup Pool B clash with Fiji with their confidence fully restored after watching them run in 11 tries in a 72-18 win over Japan.
This victory means Wales must beat the Fijians in Nantes next Saturday to set up a likely quarter-final clash with South Africa, and Jenkins played down the high error count that marred Thursday's Millennium Stadium performance.
"From my point of view it is a job well done," he said. "We scored 11 tries and eventually wrapped up 70 points," he said.
PHOTO: AP
Japan might have given the Welsh more of a testing evening if they had been able to hang on to an early lead for a bit longer, and Jenkins, who was angered by the criticism his side received after losing to Australia in their previous match, acknowledged this display had been less than perfect.
"There is still a bit of frustration about aspects of our game as well, but we have given game time to 22 players tonight," he said.
"Every one of our players has now played in the World Cup and that is important for the spirit in the camp. We are a happy camp, we're pretty positive and we go back to France with our heads up," Jenkins said.
Wales will be strong favorites to beat the Fijians, but Jenkins sounded a warning note about the Pacific Islanders' ability to create what would be a major upset.
"They are going to be a threat," he said. "They have world-class players. they have physicality and they have individual talent -- they can score tries from anywhere."
Japan coach John Kirwan said his side had emerged from the defeat with their reputation enhanced after scoring two fine tries and significantly improving on their 98-0 thrashing on their last visit to Cardiff in 2004.
Japan were leading mid-way through the first half after scoring one of the finest tries seen in the tournament so far.
Wales No. 8 Alix Popham was robbed of possession by Hitoshi Ono as a 5m scrum broke down and an exhilarating five-man counter attack concluded with wing Kosuke Endo touching down to complete a score from one corner of the ground to the other.
Kirwan admitted the failure to build on that try had cost his team dearly.
"I think the team started very well. We did some good things for the first 25 minutes. But we turned over too much ball late in the first half and let the pressure off them and then we were missing too many tackles. Turnovers and missed tackles really hurt us," he said.
The All Black great added: "It is good for us to play against a team like Wales. If you are not strong over the ball they will spread it wide and punish you. It is important we learn that lesson and take it forward to our final match, against Canada, which is our most important game in this World Cup."
"The important thing here for us was respect. These guys came here a few years ago and everyone has seen the improvement," said Kirwan, a World Cup winner as a player in the 1987 inaugural edition.
"We came here aiming to win two games and we should have won the Fiji game. But it will be a positive World Cup if we finish with a win," he said.
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