Welsh banish fear as England loom

What a difference a defeat makes. If leaden victories over Canada and Tonga in the early stages of this World Cup campaign did precisely nothing for Welsh morale, and the crucial win over Italy generated nothing more positive than an overwhelming sense of relief, the Red Dragonhood are suddenly unrecognisable from the semi-neurotic, hangdog crew who spent the first three weeks of the World Cup in semi-neurotic, hangdog Canberra. Maybe they should lose to the All Blacks more often, especially if they run in wonderful, New Zealand-style tries in the process.

Being a New Zealander himself, and therefore one of rugby's less self-satisfied types, Steve Hansen did not spend yesterday performing cartwheels in public. But the Wales coach was well pleased with life all the same, not least because the unexpectedly dynamic nature of his team's performance against the Tri-Nations champions in Sydney has transformed the way an increasingly captivated Australian rugby public views this weekend's quarter-final with England. The smart money is still on the big boys, of course, but even the English now expect a game, rather than a tea party.

"The beauty of the England team," said Hansen, not wishing to get too carried away with the achievement of putting four quality scores past the New Zealanders before falling off the exhausting pace in the last few minutes, "is that they have a forward pack who can stick the ball up their jumpers and spend the afternoon beating you up, and a set of backs who can play it wide. We have to prepare for both scenarios."

Yet he left the distinct impression that the challenge of that preparation would be met with alacrity not trepidation. Wales have not been this buoyant in years - four years, to be exact. Hansen's predecessor, Graham Henry, took the national team into the 1999 World Cup with a remarkable series of victories behind him, only to be mugged by the Samoans in the final match of the pool stage. Hansen came here with the memory of 10 consecutive defeats still fresh in his mind, yet despite losing at precisely the same stage of the competition, he has recaptured the imagination of a rugby community denied the bread of heaven for far too long.

"I've expressed the view before that Welsh rugby's biggest problem is itself; we fight ourselves all the time," he said. "But even when we were losing matches, the morale among this group of players was excellent. We knew we had a good draw in this World Cup, that if we did the job against Canada and Tonga it would come down to ourselves and the Italians. I'd be lying if I said we didn't feel a heavy burden going into that match against Italy, but having won it, we gave ourselves an opportunity to play with some freedom of expression.

"What you see here is a group of people growing in their understanding of the game we want to play and how to implement it. What is more, we are now in a position where a number of players have put up their hands in terms of selection for this weekend."

Those players include Shane Williams, whose Artful Dodger routine gave the All Blacks no end of grief at the weekend, and Jonathan Thomas, a 20-year-old loose forward from Pembroke who made his debut against the Wallabies in Sydney last summer and left a deep impression on John Mitchell, the New Zealand coach, with the precocity of his performance against a first-choice trio of back-rowers. Mitchell knows a hot loose forward when he sees one - he was, after all, a No 8 specialist during his playing days.

"We really should remember that we ended up losing on Sunday," Thomas said, oozing maturity beyond his years. "But some small battles were won, I think. I can't recall too many recent instances of an All Black team kicking penalties in the last 15 minutes against Wales.

"We have to be realistic, though. It's easier to play your best rugby against a running team like New Zealand than against opponents who set out to spoil your possession before you have a chance to use it. England will pose different problems, come at us from a different angle. But we managed to go 60 or 70 minutes against a team many consider to be the best in the world. If we can go the full 80 against England, it might be interesting."

While Wales have only a couple of injury concerns - Garan Evans, the Llanelli full-back, and Sonny Parker, their New Zealand-born centre, are under treatment - England are picking their way through an entire minefield of casualties.

Danny Grewcock, who broke his hand during the three-figure swamping of Uruguay, is out of the tournament, replaced by Simon Shaw, who flew out yesterday; Iain Balshaw, heavily strapped and limping, may not be fit in time for the quarter-final - a blow for Clive Woodward, the coach, who sees the Bath wing as part of his optimum attacking formation.

In addition, there are major alerts over Richard Hill and Trevor Woodman. Ben Cohen, Neil Back and Martin Corry are also less than chipper at the moment. The England selection debates will be long, complex and highly thought-provoking.

QUARTER-FINALS

Saturday

New Zealand v South Africa (07.30 GMT, Melbourne)

Australia v Scotland (10.00, Brisbane)

Sunday

France v Ireland (07.30, Melbourne)

England v Wales (10.00, Brisbane)