In-form: Zac Guildford
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It has been almost 56 years since Wales last beat New Zealand, with the hosting venues doing little to brighten the autumn picture in the Valleys.
Just once in the last ten meetings have these two actually run out on All Black soil and even that was a 55-3 Hamilton hammering in 2003. So it's hard to disagree that the northerners have not been given a fair crack at turning this run around.
But that hasn't stopped former Kiwi international Warren Gatland from stoking the fire with talk suggesting that their opponents have lost an aura of invincibility. He also threw in past World Cup performances as his ace in the hole, which does its job of giving this one some extra spice.
How does the old saying go though? Don't throw stones from glass houses? Saturday's hosts have certainly not been in the red-hot Grand Slam form that saw them succeed in 2008 have they?
It is also still slightly hazy whether or not Gatland's assessment - picked up in a Welsh Sunday rag - was made before or after Bledisloe Cup events in Tokyo. And many sceptics would imagine those words could soon be brought back up by a brave hack during the Cardiff post-match.
You see where this is going (an away win prediction) and it is largely down to New Zealand having looked somewhere near their usual selves against the Wallabies, with Dan Carter proving once again just how much of a loss he was during the early part of the Tri-Nations.
And despite their second-place finish in that tournament, there is also an argument that the blacks' 2009 record of three defeats could have been very different but for injuries and yes, those Francois Steyn rockets on September 12.
Mercurial fly-half Carter is one of nine players that Head Coach Graham Henry has kept faith with following the Olympic Stadium. Make no bones about it, the classy Cantabrian will, alongside the power of Ma'a Nonu, be key to the visitors hopes of stemming this pretty impressive Welsh back-line.
Elsewhere in Gatland's XV, there is a well-balanced back-row trio of Andy Powell, Martyn Williams and captain Ryan Jones, with Gareth Cooper partnering Stephen Jones inside Shane Williams, Jamie Roberts, Tom Shanklin, Leigh Halfpenny and interim full-back James Hook.
A gripping three-quarter battle awaits but as the cliché goes, this one will be won up front.
Luke Charteris and Alun-Wyn Jones will be dogging out ruck duties and if they can claim individual victories over their opposite numbers then questions could emerge over the Kiwi tight five. Questions that have seen the newly-rotated coaching trio arrange a meeting with Carl Hayman, which could see him go full circle from the black of Newcastle.
Who else will follow ahead of 2011?
Webb Ellis timing is now in every nation's psyche and with New Zealand not yet hitting top gear - unlike previous Cups - November could be the start of their re-emergence to the top.
Ones to watch:
For Wales: No questions in this department as Wales decide to drop James Hook into the full-back slot in favour of the more likely Leigh Halfpenny, who is likely to end up there in future years. There's no doubt that Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina will be raining kicks on the Lion early on and the Welshman's slightly lethargic style could be highlighted if balls are put in behind.
For New Zealand: At the base, it is good to see Graham Henry give Brendan Leonard a starting chance ahead of Jimmy Cowan, which will surely give the Kiwis so much more attacking options with ball in-hand. However, we have picked out a new man on the wing in the shape of Zac Guildford. The Hawke's Bay finisher has been in lethal form this season and if Wales give him a sniff he will make them pay.
Head-to-head: Much was made of whether or not Ryan Jones deserved to retain his captaincy but in the end sense prevailed and he will lead once again this autumn. Saturday will certainly be a huge stage for the 28-year-old to prove his worth and his Andy Powell/Martyn Williams axis against Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read is one for the purists.
Prediction: Game-time familiarity will be imperative so with New Zealand having gone through the Tri-Nations before Tokyo, I just feel they will have too much. All Blacks by 8!
Recent results:
2008: New Zealand won 29-9 in Cardiff
2006: New Zealand won 45-10 in Cardiff
2005: New Zealand won 41-3 in Cardiff
2004: New Zealand won 26-25 in Cardiff
2003: New Zealand won 53-37 in Sydney
2003: New Zealand won 55-3 in Hamilton
2002: New Zealand won 43-17 in Cardiff
1997: New Zealand won 42-7 at Wembley
1995: New Zealand won 34-9 in Johannesburg
1989: New Zealand won 34-9 in Cardiff
The teams:
Wales: 15 James Hook, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Ryan Jones (capt), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Paul James, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Jonathan Davies, 22 Tom James.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Brendan Leonard, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Ben Smith.
Date: Saturday, November 7
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match officials: Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
By Adam Kyriacou
Comments
ShaghaiDoc says...
The Village Idiots of rugby will struggle against any SH team and after the tours it will be obvious that GotnoLand is never going to coach the world's premier side.
Posted 09:49 07th November 2009
dutchkiwi says...
The problem with Nortern Hemisphere countries that there are too many foreigners playing for their clubs.
Please note that some clubs have not released players for internationals.
This is completely unacceptable bot will benefit Southern Hemisphere countries where players are contracted to the national body.
I predict a comfortable win for the All Blacks.Please do not call them the Kiwi team.
That name is used by the headhunters aka Rugby League
Posted 20:02 06th November 2009
nikid40 says...
I think Ireland will be the strongest Six Nations side and might have a chance of knocking off the Springboks. If the forwards front up, Paul O'Connel steadies the line-out and Ronan O'Gara has a good day, they are in with a shot. The French could also do it but who knows which French team will show up.
As for the AB's, they will be way to good here. Might be close for the first half but as the match wears on they run away with it. I'm thinking a similar scoreline to last year but more one-sided. If anyone is going to beat the AB's it will be the French but that is the only game they could lose.
Spare a thought for Italy though... toured Australia and New Zealand and now have the two best sides in the world before they even get an 'easy' game.
Posted 12:05 06th November 2009
cliffguy says...
Hey New Zealanders, stop letting it get to you! It's only a game, and the build-up is part of the fun. Fact is, Wales have built up - largely through their own fault - a big psychological block where the ABs are concerned. I'd love to see us win just to get that particular monkey off our backs, then we can go forward. But it'll be hard; ABs don't like losing, and they're not used to it either! let's hope for a great match.
Posted 11:55 06th November 2009
willems says...
Wales will probably be the strongest of the northern hemisphere sides, but the 3 southern hemisphere giants are still going to wipe all Europe clean!
Posted 09:51 06th November 2009
shades says...
All Blacks by at least 20 for sure..Wales shouldn't at all be remembering their form of last year..focus is on the now and what they can do with their current squad and psyche especially against a SH top dog..being NH grand slammers mean nothing if you cant apply that sort of rampaging assault on the All Blacks Australia or South Africa.
the dragons backline look good but even with outside wingers of Jane and Guildford NZ still looks better..i just hope its gonna be an exiting battle up front as well..i'd love to see some other country smashing the All Black forwards
Posted 09:36 06th November 2009
ABenzed says...
Based on the last 10 games between All Blacks and Wales Im picking the score on Saturday to be ABs 40 points Wales 13 .Since 1989 the ABs have scored 402 points to Wales 129 !!!!! With only one of these games in NZ and six in Wales, think what the scorelines would have been if more games played in NZ.!!
I cant wait to see if all the bravado this week from welsh players and Gatland all talking themselves up will be transferred to the actual game....Each and every time ABs play Wales they get the same old stuff before the match, and all the excuses after the game.Think they would learn to do their "talking on the field" as Mils Muliana said the ABs like to do. Talk is cheap , results over 100 years is what counts.
Seems the UK media has spent so much time in past 5 months twisting the truth of the Lions results in SA to suit their own needs, that many of the players now beleive it too( well in Wales anyway)The next 4 weeks will tell lots of stories.
My prediction is will be very similar to 2008 'autumn internationals" when the SH teams won 11 out of 12 Test matches.
Even Samoa has a good chance of knocking off 1 or more of the six nations teams this time around.
Posted 08:05 06th November 2009