Gerald Davies: Chance to put new shine on faded glory

Wales need to win, desperately so. Their current record hangs around their necks like the proverbial albatross, and is not one they would wish to be reminded of too often.

They have lost eight consecutive matches, and have won only four of their past 18 fixtures. These victories were against Italy, Romania, Fiji and Canada, none of which can be numbered among the world's top-ranking teams.

Wales want to change this trend this week, but they know their next opponents are the ones, historically, they have respected the most - New Zealand.

This admiration and rivalry stretches back to 1905 when the first encounter between the two nations took place. That was a game of drama and emotion with a try that was not a try, and on that day good fortune went Wales' way.

Young men may not care to be reminded of a past in which they played no part.

But such beginnings started this passionate rivalry between two small countries, a rivalry which over the decades has been cherished.

In the intervening years the pendulum has swung dramatically in the other direction - so much so that we in Wales wonder whether it will ever shift in our direction again.

By 1953, the statistics from the first four encounters favoured Wales by three victories to one. But New Zealand have won every match since.

These wins have not been by modest margins, either. They have been comprehensive and overwhelming.

The cutting edge of the tight challenges Wales-All Black games once were is no longer so fine. It is a mountain that Wales have to climb today.

A Welsh resurgence must be hoped for in Hamilton today. But it is difficult to see anything other than another All Black victory. Reading Wales' recent dismal record demands such a conclusion.

Wales had much to take heart from in their match against Australia last Saturday. Their lineout was in good shape, as for the most part was their scrum, and the territorial advantage was quite substantial. But the team lacked attacking incisiveness.

Crossing the gain line remained an elusive prospect; penetrating forward momentum was rare.

For New Zealand, the failure to grasp their many opportunities accounted for their undoing last Saturday as much as England's unbending resistance.

There was a fearsome power in this match. The physical impact, the unremitting force and collision, of the match in Wellington was a league away from what we saw in Sydney.

If there are such apparent differences in the respective power - or lack of it - between New Zealand and Wales and an acceptance of a foregone conclusion, what is it that I hope for from Wales?

I would like a performance of sheer, in-your-face competitiveness and I believe we will get this.

But I wish it to be done in a way that restores the prestige of Wales in the eyes of all New Zealand.

I long for Wales to recapture the essence of the great encounters with New Zealand of the distant past and the respect one country had for the other but which, to a degree, has too long been on the wane.

* Gerald Davies played 46 tests for Wales and toured New Zealand with the winning Lions team of 1971. He is a columnist for the Times of London and works for BBC Wales.