Shane Williams column: Wales must believe they can upset the All Blacks

Flexing your muscles on the beach is one thing – doing it in the ring is quite another. I’m sure the plan all week before Italy was to move them around and blitz them with pace and power. Great.
Wales turned on the style in the final Six Nations match against Italy and racked up their biggest score in Championship. But we have to expect to do that against far better teams.
That might have been a wonderful way to finish the tournament and claim a perfectly respectable second place, but the simple fact was that it was too late and they still need more when they face New Zealand in the summer.
I’m still convinced they can pinch one of the three Tests out there in June.
It’s not about winning the series, it’s about ending the run against the All Blacks and clinching that all-important first win in their back yard and we have the players to do it.
They have one of the best wings in the world in George North and his return to form has been a big plus for Warren Gatland – as was the form of Jamie Roberts.
He may be a battering ram but he proved he can be a distributor as well against Italy.
With Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams in the mix as well and Leigh Halfpenny and Scott Williams set to return, Wales have a cutting edge – if they are willing to use it. It’s a big ‘if’ because it was only in the last 100 minutes of the Championship, the final stages against England and then Italy, that we really saw it.
When Wales did click, they looked phenomenal and had the champions England on the rack and they have to have the confidence and conviction they can do the same to New Zealand. Keep things tight when they need to but have a fluid style that can spot gaps out wide and exploit them with some improved skills.
What was possibly more alarming was their lack of concentration, which was pretty uncharacteristic of Wales.
They didn’t concede that many tries but they were sleeping for the first half against both Ireland and England, let Italy score twice and let France in for a late try. It was a reminder of the need to play for 80 minutes and if there is one team who only need a second to score it’s the All Blacks. You have to play out of your skin for every moment or they smell blood.
Defence is always key and 19 missed tackles in the first half against England alone would have had Shaun Edwards pulling his hair out – if he had any left! If Wales are to create some history Down Under they must rediscover their old defensive solidity as a matter of urgency.
The All Blacks are brilliant at creating mismatches with the likes of Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder able to shred even the most focused defence.
If Wales start slowly in Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin, they could be 30 points down before they’ve woken up.
Yet we must remember that Wales still almost won the Six Nations.
They beat Scotland, France and Italy, drew in Dublin and came within minutes of turning over England at Twickenham. All in all, that’s not a bad tournament.
The big decision for Gatland is whether to throw a few new faces into the mix this summer.
I would like to see the likes of Ross Moriarty, Tyler Morgan and Matthew Morgan given a chance against the world champions.
Moriarty really took his chance against Italy and brought something that perhaps we haven’t seen in the Welsh back-row for the last five or six years.
He seems to have the mental edge and physical approach that we would need in New Zealand.
Tyler Morgan returns this weekend and would be worth bringing back into the squad. He did well in the World Cup quarter-final against South Africa and Wales need to start thinking about life without Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies who cannot play every game for them.
I was disappointed Matthew Morgan wasn’t given a chance in the Six Nations after his World Cup appearance and he needs to be tested at that level if he’s going to progress.