Aussie skipper Rocky Elsom was jubilant after seeing his back line tear the All Blacks defensive system to shreds to score four tries in a 26-24 Bledisloe cup victory over their arch-rivals in Hong Kong.
It brought to an end a run of 10 successive defeats against the All Blacks dating back two years and halted New Zealand’s sequence of 15 Test wins in a row.
“The result wasn’t a surprise to me. The Australians have been improving throughout the Tri Nations and are a young team who are only going to get better with experience,” said Edwards.
“They may not technically be the number one team in the world but, having just beaten the highest ranked side at a neutral venue, you have to say they are now the team to beat. We are going to need all the support we can muster at the Millennium Stadium if we are going to match them.
“We are still stinging from our performance against them last year. But if we can recreate the atmosphere of two years ago, when we beat them, that will certainly go a long way to helping us do something pretty special next week.
“The challenge for us this week is to work incredibly hard and put maximum effort into our preparations. The Wallabies have just scored four tries against a tough New Zealand defence, which was an incredible effort, and that says everything about how important defence will be for us.
“It was a great game of rugby and just showed the attacking threats Wales will have to deal with. The Australian back line conjured up four fantastic tries against one of the toughest defensive teams in the world to prove they are one of the most potent attacking forces in the game at present.
“We saw a glimpse of what they can do when they played against us in Cardiff last year and now we know they will be returning with the same game plan in mind. We know we have to be water tight in defence and that is something we have been working on for some time.
“Our defence has to put pressure on them and I hope the crowd will play their part as well because it will be a totally different atmosphere in Cardiff to Hong Kong. We need it to be hostile to them and supportive to us.
“What the next month will do is give our players the chance to hone their skills against the best teams in the world and offer the fans the chance to see the best rugby in the world.”
