AFTER Wales’ loss to England in the Six Nations I said the World Cup encounter would still be a toss of a coin job. Seven months on and I stand by that statement, in fact it will be a best-of-three involving Austalia and Fiji.

It isn’t a double-sided coin just yet despite some notable absentees.

Admittedly, if I was forced to punt with a note rather than coppers on the two nations that will qualify then I would probably err towards England and Australia, but without any real conviction.

It’s hard to see England losing twice at Twickenham while the Wallabies are ranked second in the world and have had the Indian sign over Wales but Warren Gatland’s team are still in good shape, despite being without three members of their best XV in Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan Davies and Rhys Webb.

I don’t have the rugby knowhow of Austin Healey or Mike Tindall but I disagree with the former England stars’ argument that Halfpenny’s absence could work in Wales’ favour.

Defensive excellence and nerveless play are key attributes at Test level. Liam Williams does provide a certain fun factor but he did that well in the 6N with the calming, sensible presence of a Lions star behind him.

Nonetheless, Williams is an able deputy and now is the time for being positive; there is no point in dwelling on the unfortunate injuries or whinging about Kurtley Beale’s try at the death in a Test outside the window that led to the group of death.

Wales just have to concentrate on making sure they are in the last eight and it’s not mission impossible.

Perhaps the head coach is right and they will prosper when written off, although nobody to my knowledge has done that yet so maybe it’s just Gatland trying to foster a siege mentality.

Wales will run riot in the Uruguay opener and from then on they must use the blueprint that worked in Dublin and has brought previous success (although admittedly not against Austalia).

It’s too late to change habits and if Gatland has been penning a fresh masterplan to unveil at the World Cup then it would be the greatest act of deception since Keyser Soze.

What we will see on Sunday bears no resemblance to what will go on for the rest of the tournament and in truth Wales don’t really get World Cup fever until next week. Before that Twickenham encounter the English and Australian credentials will have been tested by Fiji.

Wales will just have to run the risk of their mix-and-match side falling short in their bid for points galore against Uruguay. Whatever they post should be chased down by the Wallabies at Villa Park and England in their finale in Manchester (although perhaps the British weather and Millennium Stadium roof can help out).

This time next week the real stuff will be upon us and, while a positive outlook isn’t my default setting, it presents Wales with a glorious opportunity.

They have nothing to lose, failing to qualify is not an abject humiliation while if they safely negotiate a group of death then they will have a steely belief that anything is possible.

In 2011 they were buoyant after pushing South Africa hard and edging past Samoa so the lift of still being involved on October 17 or 18 while two of England, Australia and Fiji have checked out of their hotels would be considerable.

If the coin lands in Wales’ favour then they really will believe that bettering 2011’s effort is possible.

THERE has been plenty of debate about the make-up of World Cup squads in the tournament build-up and one has to wonder if there is any point to a player limit.

Perhaps in the future World Rugby should just state squads must feature three players for each front row position and leave the rest up to the coaches.

Admittedly it would put tier one countries at an advantage as even with the current regulations some smaller nations aren’t in a position to fly out and then accommodate replacements.

But there would be a natural limit; allowing as many players as nations wants, and changes during the tournament, wouldn’t lead to NFL-sized rosters.

Warren Gatland selected 34 for his Six Nations campaign and stated in August that it was hard operating with the group he had prior to his first World Cup cull while Sir Clive Woodward’s 45-strong Lions party showed that less can sometimes be more