Wales are ready for vital clash with Samoa

It will be all-or-nothing for Wales when they take on Samoa in their second Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool D match at Waikato Stadium on Sunday.

The Welsh narrowly lost their first match of the tournament to RWC champions South Africa in Wellington but coach Warren Gatland says his team have regrouped over the past week and are keen to pick up where they left off.

“We maintained momentum with aspects of the performance (against the Springboks), providing a host of positive points to take into Sunday’s match against Samoa. We could not fault the effort, passion and commitment of the players last week and we are looking for the same again on Sunday,” he said.

In an enormous show of faith, Wales will go into Sunday's game with the same starting line-up that lost 17-16 to South Africa. It is the first time they have done that in their World Cup history.

"It's a message of confidence in terms of the way we performed last match. We've got everyone fit and hopefully we can build on last week," Gatland said.

Despite losing their first match, Wales will go into the game in the unaccustomed role of favourite but skipper Sam Warburton believes that doesn't add any pressure.

"It'll be different but things have got to change. If you ask New Zealand or one of the other Tri-Nations teams, they wouldn't care. If you want to be one of the best teams in the world, you have to deal with that pressure," he said.

"If people want to put that tag on us, that's fine," added defensive coach Shaun Edwards. "It's up to us to perform."

No style change

Samoa will meet a Wales team still smarting from its one-point loss to the Springboks but the Islanders won't be changing the way they play.

"We'll play our usual style. Most teams around the world know how we play now. We're pretty physical," said second row Kane Thompson.

The Samoans have been disadvantaged by having to play twice in four days, but they say there will be no excuses.

"If we let things like that affect us we won't be focusing on the task at hand. It definitely won't be an excuse," said Thompson.

Hooker Mahonri Schwalger added: "It's pretty harsh, but it's the nature of the tournament. It's about which team can recover quickest and front up."

Samoa will be hoping Alesana Tuilagi, the three-try hero against Namibia, can reproduce his match-winning form against Wales.

"I wouldn't like to be standing in front of him when he's in full cry. He's quite a sight when he's in full flight," said Samoan backs coach Brian McLean.

Gatland returns home

Warren Gatland, who has been coaching Wales since 2007, was born in Hamilton and is excited to see his team play in his home town. He played 140 matches for Waikato and coached them to Air New Zealand Cup success in 2006.

“Samoa are going to have a lot of support, as will Fiji when we come back to play them in the final game of our pool, but we are hoping some of the Waikato people will be getting behind Wales as well," he said.

“We played there on our summer tour of New Zealand last year and I told all of the players what to expect then and we all really enjoyed the experience and the welcome we had in Hamilton.

“It is a special atmosphere on match day, it will be very much like coming home for me and we are hoping all the locals bring their Mooloo bells and ring them for Wales!”

Sunday's match kicks off at 15:30.