Wales boss Warren Gatland knows that his team are primed for a Tri Nations scalp © Getty Images

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Teams Wales

Welsh international rugby history is sprinkled with heroic failures against the southern hemisphere giants.

This gallant tale features entries like Wales 0 South Africa 3 (1960), Wales 12 New Zealand 13 (1978), Australia 19 Wales 17 (1978), Wales 36 South Africa 38(2004), Wales 25 New Zealand 26 (2004) - and now, Wales 15 South Africa 20(2008).

Current Wales boss Warren Gatland though, is only concerned with these statistics - one win in 102 years against South Africa, no victories over New Zealand since 1953, and one success in 20 years at Australia's expense.

Even if Gatland had Sir Alex Ferguson's famous metaphoric hairdryer with him, no-one in the Welsh dressing room would have heard it last Saturday afternoon. As post-match blasts go, Gatland's was of the furnace variety.

Star flanker Martyn Williams, one sensed, could still hear every word as he munched on a banana in the media mixed zone more than an hour after the final whistle. But the brilliant Cardiff Blues open-side also backed Gatland to the hilt.

"That is the most angry I've seen Warren," recalled Williams. "He was very animated. I've never seen him so furious - and rightly so as well.

"Gats is a typical Kiwi. He expects to win, and he told us we are a better side than what we showed. He said when the top sides get chances, they put them away. We didn't.

"It is just the little things that are the difference between being in the top three or four sides in the world, and being on the outside trying to get in. Eighteen months ago, the boys would probably have been tapping each other on the back and high-fiving each other for losing by just five points.

"But that is not the case any more."

So, is it all hot-air, or are Wales almost the real deal in terms of standing up, taking on and ultimately flooring a Tri-Nations heavyweight?

Any Welsh fans losing heart - or patience - could do worse than assess Sir Clive Woodward's early reign as England chief. Woodward's England lost 13 out of their first 14 meetings with South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Then, after cracking the code with a Jonny Wilkinson-inspired success against the Springboks in Bloemfontein, they promptly won 12 on the bounce. Gatland, I suggest, would not have become 'Mr Angry' in the first place if he felt Wales were not good enough.

Together with his coaching lieutenants Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley, the no-nonsense New Zealander has put in place a template for success. Forget the politics currently rife in Welsh rugby, when Gatland's players are assembled at their rural Vale of Glamorgan retreat, they are immediately in the zone - and we are not talking a comfort one.

Gatland often talks to his squad about raising the bar. Wales did it last season, winning their second RBS 6 Nations title and Grand Slam in four seasons, but Gatland now wants it raised even higher.

South Africa - well-organised and ferociously-competitive, but not a great deal more than that - should have been conquered. Gatland knew it, and by approximately 4.45pm, so did his players.

False dawns are regular events in Welsh rugby, yet when skipper Ryan Jones speaks about his team needing that "watershed" victory over major southern hemisphere opposition, you know exactly where he is coming from.

To my mind, Wales are good enough to beat New Zealand and Australia during the next 16 days. Huw Richards' marvellous book Dragons and All Blacks tells the whole story and more of how Wales last defeated New Zealand on December 19, 1953.

It was a time when Wales had rugby heroes like Ken Jones, Bleddyn Williams, Cliff Morgan and Rex Willis, yet the All Blacks have not looked back since that 13-8 defeat at Cardiff Arms Park, beating Wales 19 times in succession.

Before some strange-looking men arrive at my door to cart me off, I genuinely believe Wales will end that demoralising sequence of results on Saturday week. Why? Simply because they possess the players who can perform at a quick enough tempo to not only match New Zealand's back division glitterati, but also create the scoring chances to make it count.

We are talking about the finest of fine margins here. South Africa were out on their feet at the final whistle last Saturday. The Welsh players, you felt, could have gone on significantly longer. Three things ultimately cost them - a terrible start, one interception pass and that touch of big-game composure to finish off those opportunities Wales will always manufacture.

Hardly terminal, is it? The big scalp, unquestionably, is ready to be nailed. Gatland clearly believes it - so why shouldn't the rest of us?

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