Wales welcome Tonga to the Millennium Stadium six days after Argentina arrive in Cardiff, with skipper Sam Warburton and co braced for a hugely physical encounter against a side known for their ferocity and tenacity in both attack and defence.
But having seen his side triumph 19-18 in a thrilling encounter in Bucharest, Howells expects Wales to run out comfortable winners if they match their visitors at the battle of the breakdown and refuse to back down when it comes to the close-quarter exchanges.
“I would be very surprised and disappointed indeed if Wales don’t beat Tonga. They placed their best team against us and we were good value for our win,” said Howells, the former Pontypridd, Cardiff and Celtic Crusaders coach who has been in charge of the Romanian national team since January 2012.
“The biggest thing you have to realise about Tonga is they love to be physical at the breakdown. But if you can match them in that area they tend to try to throw the ball about and play seven-a-side rugby.
“Wales should be capable of matching them in the contact area, so I think they will be alright against them. We went back to traditional Romanian strengths and played a forward orientated game.
“In the past, Romania have tried to play in a different style, sometimes due to having French coaches. This was about us winning a game, rather than Tonga losing it, and the game plan worked for us.”
Saturday was the first time Romania and Tonga had played each other, with Howells’ men pulled off a surprise win over a team ranked six places above them in the IRB World Rankings.
No fewer than 16 of Romania’s match-day 23 were from the Bucharest Wolves set-up that Howells coaches in the Amlin Challenge Cup and he believes the key to more success for the Romanian national team is greater exposure to European competition.
“Romanian club rugby isn’t of the highest quality, so getting the best players together to play in the Amlin Challenge Cup is vital for us. The European tournament provides us with the kind of pressure and intensity we need to prepare our players for the international stage,” said Howells.
“Those games were a vital part of our preparation and gave the players the belief they could play at a higher level. Now we have to go on and prove it again against Canada and Fiji over the next two weekends.
“We asked for these fixtures to help us prepare for our World Cup qualifiers in the New Year, when we have to win at least three of our five matches against Portugal, Russia, Spain, Belgium and Georgia.”
