All Blacks: Gatland expects Barrett to start against Wales

Wales coach Warren Gatland's approach ahead of this weekend's test against the nation of his birth was a mix of charm offensive and mind games.

The All Blacks deserve to be considered the best team in the world, he said. In fact, this current crop could probably be considered the best ever.

And yet, one only has to look back to last weekend and the All Blacks' narrow win over Scotland at Murrayfield to see how to put pressure on them, according to Gatland, who also drew the attention of a packed media conference to last year's test between Ireland and the All Blacks in Dublin in which the home team almost made history.

In what was clearly designed as an attempt to get under Steve Hansen's skin, Gatland said he was confident Beauden Barrett would get the nod at first-five. Hansen, who also has Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden and Colin Slade as options at No 10, will announce his team tomorrow afternoon.

If the first shots in this battle are any indication, the collision at the Millennium Stadium is likely to be a monumental one.

Gatland said of his assessment of the All Blacks against Scotland: "They made 13 changes and it was a tough game but they did enough to win and they will have come out of that confident and feeling pretty happy so we're expecting a strong side to be put up against us at the weekend. There may be one or two changes and some players given an opportunity. I think they might play Barrett at No 10, we're expecting that, so it will be a tough side."

He added: "Even though the All Blacks put out their second string side, if you look at Scotland, the more the game went on, the more the players got some confidence and self belief and thought 'hey, they are only 15 rugby players', so that's the message to the players. If you get up in their faces and put them under pressure and try to impose yourself on any team you can get that confidence and self belief."

Gatland said later: "If you look back 12 months ago at the Irish game, Ireland went out with a very simple game plan, it was almost one-pass rugby, run hard and win the collisions and play with a bit of continuity. It's a reasonably simple message and that is you have to look after possession when you've got it and look to put them under pressure." Gatland, a former Waikato player and coach, led the British and Irish Lions to a series victory over Australia last year, but has had nowhere near the same success during his seven years with Wales.

He will be desperate to improve on a record which has seen him win only one of 26 tests against the Southern Hemisphere big three of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia (the 21-18 win over the Wallabies in Cardiff in 2008 was a rare triumph). As many in these parts know, Wales last beat the All Blacks in 1953.

Gatland said the expectations on the All Blacks helped drive their excellent record: "They know they are under pressure and have the expectations of a nation [on them] but from the players' point of view there's always someone knocking on the door. I think that's what drives the players to succeed: history, expectation and pressure from other players."

Wales team to play All Blacks:
Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton (C), Dan Lydiate, Alun Wyn Jones, Jake Ball, Samson Lee, Richard Hibbard, Paul James.

Reserves: Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Rhodri Jones, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Mike Phillips, James Hook, Liam Williams.