Ruddock ready to rally the troops

In his final address before tonight’s eagerly-anticipated clash with New Zealand, Wales coach Mike Ruddock will remind his players of their chance to make history.

Wales have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953 – a losing streak of 51 years and 16 Test matches since Bleddyn Williams captained his country to a 13-8 triumph at Cardiff Arms Park.

Williams has already urged the current team on to victory and Ruddock will reinforce that sense of history in the changing room at the Millennium Stadium.

“We are trying to be precise in everything we do without emotion but certainly history is something we refer to and in our final chat we will certainly be talking to the boys about the opposition,” said Ruddock.

“After such a long wait there is a chance to put ourselves in the history books but it is going to take 80 minutes of precision rugby.

“If we don’t get precision rugby we won’t win the game and it could be a number of years until we get the result.

“The emotion and history is one thing but the accuracy of our game is the most important thing.”

Wales made a slow start against South Africa a fortnight ago and were dogged by individual errors which allowed the Springboks to clinch a 38-36 victory.

Ruddock has been delighted by the manner in which his players responded to that, starting with a 66-7 victory over Romania last weekend and the Wales coach has urged his men to hit New Zealand with all guns blazing, right from the off.

“In the South Africa game we looked like a side who hadn’t been together too long. There were a lot for new combinations,” he said.

“Against Romania we went for it straight from the start, the intensity was there, the tempo was there, the skill was there and that is what we want on Saturday.

“We all want to start well and I’m sure the All Blacks want to start well - so game on.

“We are quietly confident we can get a result, we don’t need to talk ourselves up. We feel we have the ability and self belief, we have just got to get the execution right.”

Expectation is growing that Wales, following their recent renaissance, can pull off an historic victory.

Ruddock has been keen to play down the hype, declaring: “I think the pressure is on the All Blacks. It’s a game they can’t afford to lose.

“They haven’t lost to Wales since 1953, 51 years, so they are red-hot favourites and we can be quite relaxed about it, go out there and give it our best shot.”

But Williams believes the time has come for Wales to boast a new hero in the form of current captain Gareth Thomas.

“People wrote us off in 1953 and look what we did. They said we did not have a pack that match that of New Zealand, that we would be pushed aside. But we proved them wrong then and Wales can do it again tomorrow,” Williams told the Western Mail.

“This New Zealand team is has some fantastic players who combine strength with enormous talent. But they are not unbeatable – as was seen during the Tri-Nations.

“It was a great honour to captain Wales to victory over New Zealand, but it’s a huge disappointment that we haven’t beaten them since.

“Things have to progress, times move on and it is time for another player to enjoy that distinction.”