In the event of a loss the game’s meaning assumes seismic proportions

In the event of a loss, the game’s meaning assumes seismic proportions. The damage to team spirit is incalculable.”Davies knows his onions; he is an astute analyst of the sport he once played as well as anyone on earth, and he never allows the fog of emotion to cloud his sense of perspective. Why? Because the Italians weren’t fit to tie their bootlaces. But Thomas, who knows what it is to stand toe-to-toe with the superpowers of the union code – the All Blacks, the Springboks, the Wallabies and, yes, the bloody English – unhesitatingly describes this as the most significant of 70-odd matches he has played for his country since the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.Four years previously, the Welsh also talked themselves into a “do-or-die” situation, and duly died a small death by losing to Western Samoa and missing out on the knock-out phase of the tournament.Gerald Davies, the prince of Welsh wings and a sad-faced observer that day, remembers it like this: “Wales had added to their pressure by declaring beforehand that this was the most important game in their 110-year history. It has come to this, then: 80 desperation-soaked minutes with the potential to blow the roof clean off the creaking, badly-maintained, rickety old mansion that was once a Xanadu of the sporting world. Tomorrow they must move it around, spread the play about and not get sucked into the attrition up front.Samoa will be a very good test for England They are a physical side who can score tries from anywhere.

I have my fingers crossed that Will Greenwood’s wife is well enough for him to return to the fray next week Apart from being a nice guy, he is a big player for them.. But they usually do well against the French and much will depend on how they cope with the loss of the banned Martin Leslie. Realistically, the next game against Fiji is the one their hopes will be on.The last time Ireland played Argentina they were dragged into a slow, hard game and lost. Think what that will do for national morale.There can rarely have been a more significant challenge to a Welsh team and I refuse to believe they won’t smash their way through it in some style.Scotland have a much harder task against France but probably less pressure to win. Of course, they have patterns of play to observe just as every team does. But the great teams are those with the courage to step outside the structure when the opportunity invites them to play from the heart. If you are too scared to depart from the script you are never going to go to the limits of your ability.If Wales fail to qualify for the quarter-finals it will cast a gloom over a country that is trying desperately to bed down a new domestic structure which is beginning to look promising.It will mean them having to qualify for the next World Cup among all the minnows.

Kevin Morgan can punch holes out wide, Iestyn Harris can control everything from inside centre…All they have to do is go out and play. We’re the second-best team in that group by a long way and we’re creeping through it as if we are the worst.How many Italian players would get into a Welsh team playing at their full potential? But they are very direct and robust and will disrupt you if you let them.I’ve been saying for some time that Wales are under-performing and now is the time to show the world that when we play at pace, pick up the tempo and slam into opponents we can hold our own with anyone.We have the men to do it Gareth Thomas is the most underrated player in the world He is Wales’s answer to Wendell Sailor. They only have to remember the way they rediscovered their hwyl against England in February. Wales stood up to them manfully and stayed in the game for longer than anyone expected. They lost 26-9 but they went down fighting and that’s the least expected of them.Their supporters are not asking for the moon.

They would have the free pick of their finest talent, they would be handsomely rewarded for their brilliance, they would have 20 training get-togethers a year and 10 Tests per season. They go to church, they cherish their families and their people, and they play with pride. If they come off the field having been themselves and been the best they can be, I’ll be satisfied.”His opposite number will not be satisfied with anything less than a 40-point victory, for the English tight forwards should restrict the Samoans to a bare minimum of possession. Julian White, the specialist scrummager from the West Country, will be operating at fever pitch, for he sees a route into Clive Woodward’s first-choice team.