Unsung Welsh hit the high notes

Rugby: After watching his team of underdogs rattle the mighty All Blacks in Sydney yesterday, Wales coach Steve Hansen claimed they had "come a long way in a short time" but needed regular high-intensity competition if they were to maintain progress.

Hansen had named a second-string side for the game and they were widely expected to be on the end of a 50-point thrashing, but after conceding a try within 90 seconds of the kick-off they rallied superbly and by virtue of some sparkling running and handling actually led the former champions 37-33 well into the third quarter before going down 53-37.

Hansen said the effort of his team, who play England in the quarter-finals next weekend, was outstanding.

"I'm very proud but at the end of the day we didn't win the game. But in realistic terms we've got to be very proud of what they did, because we've come a long way in a short period of time," said Hansen.

"The performance was good but at the end of the day we lost and we are looking for performances that enable us to beat the best nations in the world," he added.

"We didn't get a good start but showed a lot of spirit to come back. We ran out of petrol because we're not playing at that intensity week in and week out.

"We came to the game to win the game contrary to a lot of critics' opinions.

"The important thing is that we face another top team in seven days and it's going to be very interesting to see if we can back that up."

Captain Colin Charvis admitted that conceding a try after just 90 seconds had hit the team hard and memories of the 55-3 thrashing in Hamilton in June had come flooding back.

"The first thought was that it would be like Hamilton again, but we knew we had to build an innings rather than worry about scoring a six straightaway."

After getting ahead on the scoreboard at the start of the second half, Wales went behind again on the hour mark and things began to slip away as New Zealand regained their composure.

"Once they get that gap of 10 points or more it's very hard for a team to come back," said Charvis.

"Congratulations to the New Zealanders, who showed their class towards the end when they scored their tries. We wish them the best of luck. I am proud of the fact that we showed a lot of character. I am proud of our performance "

Flanker Jonathan Thomas said the game plan created by Hansen had borne fruit. "A big part of the game plan for us was to keep the ball and go through the phases, and then the holes just seemed to be there," said Thomas.

All Blacks coach John Mitchell was pleased with his side's lightning start - they grabbed four tries in 30 minutes, including two by the flying Fiji-born winger Joe Rokocoko - but unhappy about their flimsy defence.

"We're very thrilled with aspects of our attack, we scored eight tries," Mitchell said.

"We had some defensive lapses but I'd rather focus on the positives, we can fix those things very quickly. The start was quite exceptional and the last 20 minutes, the go-forward that was generated was also of the highest quality," he said, adding: "I think in some ways some of the media that I read during the week was a little bit disrespectful of their (Wales's) abilities. They played well tonight, we had to work very hard."

Scrumhalf Justin Marshall admitted Wales had unsettled the All Blacks with their quick recycling of the ball but said lessons had been learned.

"We know that under stress we can absorb pressure and score points."