Drab dress rehearsal for Wales

Failure to raise their game beyond the level attained against the U.S. - inconceivable, surely, for such a glamorous fixture - would result in complete embarrassment.

And even a 100 per cent improvement will not necessarily guarantee a repeat of that famous victory at the start of Henry's reign.

Henry hinted that changes will be made to the side that face the Springboks and accused Saturday's starters of expecting to beat the States without effort or thought.

'We were inaccurate and we weren't right mentally,' he said. 'We made a lot of mistakes in handling, catching and passing, and our line-out was shocking.

'However, we looked beautiful running out and we will be better psychologically next week. This game will help in achieving that.'

Of the XV who started against the Americans, Arwel Thomas performed with some invention and scored a wonderful individual try, Dafydd James looked capable of moving up a gear and Chris Wyatt had a good first half.

Set against those small consolations was a list of faults which stretched longer than most of Grant Wells' kicks for the U.S.

James went over for a try for Wales after 11 minutes, holding off Jovesa Naivalu to convert Thomas' good pass, and things looked really promising when the second touchdown came 15 minutes later.

Again, stand off Thomas was the architect, playing a beautiful little reverse ball to Allan Bateman screaming past on his inside. Bateman then ran 30 yards before laying off to captain Mark Taylor, who gleefully went over. A Thomas conversion and a further penalty made it 15-0 at half-time but, with Wells missing two kickable penalties, the scoreline only served to flatter the Welsh.

After an exchange of penalties, the Americans came out charging in the second half - and scored after four minutes.

Malakai Delai went over in the corner after a nice intrusion in the line by full back Kurt Shuman, while a Wells penalty on 53 minutes reduced the score to 18-11.

Wales needed something special to restore the balance of power and Thomas was able to provide it within 60 seconds.

Spotting a gap in the U.S. cover, he darted between two tackles, evaded Shuman with a lovely sidestep and threw himself under the posts.

Rhys Williams stretched the lead further after Bateman had run straight through three Americans, with James and substitute Neil Jenkins boosting the scoreline further late on.

A 31-point winning margin and a try count of 6-1 should never be sniffed at but, even in their new predominantly black change strip, Wales hardly resembled New Zealand in full cry.

Exactly where the Welsh do rate in the world is hard to say and, with coach Henry complaining again about the lack of quality opposition willing to play his men, much will be read into the one-off Test against the Boks.

Scrum half Rob Howley admitted: 'Memories of our victory on June 26, 1999, will come back and it will be at the forefront of their minds as well.

'They had one or two missing then but the big guns are back now, so we see it as a test to see where we are in international terms.

'Before these two games we were lying fifth in the world, now we've got a game against one of the big three. Let's see where we stand after that.'