11:40am Monday 23rd November 2009
By Chris Kirwan
WALES have come up against some inspired back-row forwards so far this autumn, and more of the same is on the cards at the weekend.
New Zealand’s Richie McCaw, Samoa’s Henry Tuilagi and Argentina’s Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe have all produced stunning performances at the Millennium Stadium this month.
And there will be a string of Wallabies keen to better their efforts on Saturday when Australia provide Wales’ final challenge of the year, a point not lost on evergreen Wales openside flanker Martyn Williams.
“Guys like Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, George Smith, Wycliff Palu – there are not many better back rows in the world,” said the 34-year-old.
“It’s another test for us but we are fairly happy with where we are. Australia are always difficult, it is never an easy game and they are another side who are ranked above us.
“They have been together for a good time as well, so will probably be peaking. They test you defensively and will have a crack from anywhere.
“Australia don’t kick the ball as much as South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina – they are a lot more inventive and make it tough all day.
“As happy as we are with our win over Argentina, we know that we will have to do better next week, especially with ball in hand.”
Williams, who admitted he wasn’t quite right against the All Blacks after undergoing shoulder surgery, was delighted with the hard-earned win over the Pumas.
The flanker had to give Shane Williams a helpful shove over the line after the winger mysteriously cut into traffic when scoring his side’s second try and overall felt it was a job well done.
He said: “Argentina are a very difficult side to break down with some world-class players and, while there is plenty to work on, we would have taken that score before the game.
“We were patient but our accuracy was a bit off and that stopped us putting them to the sword.
“We let them back into the game with a couple of soft penalties and I think the top sides would have put them away in those situations.
“But it was still a convincing win against a top side and we know it will be up another level against Australia.
“They are definitely improving and will be another notch up. We traditionally finish strongly in the autumn so hopefully we have got the rustiness out of our system.”
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