Thursday 20th September 2007
Wales coach Gareth Jenkins expressed his delight following his side's 72-18 victory over Japan in Cardiff on Thursday, describing the 11-try rout as "a job well done".
The Welsh ran in 11 tries against a spirited if outclassed Japanese side in their third pool match to lift confidence ahead of their likely winner-takes-all clash with Fiji in Nantes on September 29.
"I am happy we can go back to France tomorrow with our heads held high," he said.
"It was a job well done tonight. We scored 11 tries and eventually racked up 70 points. There were a lot of pleasing things as well as still some frustrating aspects which we need to look at.
"We have also given game-time to 22 players and every member of our squad has played in the World Cup, which is a significant achievement."
The Welsh were able to boast nine different try-scorers, which Jenkins argued "shows the game we are playing gives everyone an opportunity to be part of it".
The individual hero was winger Shane Williams, who touched down for his second try in the final act of the match to take his tally for Wales to 34 on his 50th appearance and move into second place behind Gareth Thomas in the all-time list.
"We talked all week about what Shane has been to Welsh rugby over the last seven or eight years and he's getting better with age," said Jenkins.
"He sparkled tonight, which is great for him and great for us that we've got a player of that quality. He's a proud Welshman and he was proud of the reception he had."
Jenkins made ten changes to the side that lost to Australia and one of the newcomers, scrum-half Mike Phillips, earned the man-of-the-match award for an industrious performance.
"There is great rivalry and there has been some good performances from boys who had their first opportunity, Mike Phillips for example," added Jenkins.
"We have got a competitive squad and that's healthy going forward. There were a lot of combinations that worked well.
"It wasn't only about getting the result, it was getting combinations to evolve and develop. We built and varied and executed a lot of things we wanted to."
Flanker Martyn Williams also scored a brace of tries and others came from Rhys Thomas, Alun-Wyn Jones, Mike Phillips, James Hook, Dafydd James, Kevin Morgan and Gareth Cooper.
Wales captain Stephen Jones, who kicked six goals from eight attempts before making way for Ceri Sweeney, said: "I thought we were very good on attack.
"We made a few errors but the intent was there to play. I think that was evident throughout the match.
"It was an important game for us. We're happy with the win and we're happy with the manner in which we played as well."
"We need to look at our contact skills, make sure we tighten those areas up and if we do that then we can get a lot more continuity into out game."
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