Wales welcome extra rest days

Wales believe an extra four days of rest between matches will re-energise them for Sunday's clash with a physical Samoan team, who will be playing their second match in four days.

That is the opinion of Wales defensive coach Shaun Edwards, who would have been buoyed ahead of the Pool D game at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium also by news that Samoa picked up several injuries in Wednesday's 49-12 victory over Namibia.

"Everyone is still in the same boat, but we may have a slight advantage," Edwards said.

"There are a few guys who are still sore from the weekend. But as Warren Gatland (head coach) says, the best way to prepare for a tough game is to play a tough game."

Edwards says he is expecting a bruising affair. "They're big, powerful men, similar to South Africa. They like to offload the ball and try to intercept a lot," he said.

Forceful style

Samoa showed how their forceful style can put a top side off their game when they upset Australia 32-23 at Sydney's Olympic Stadium in mid-July.

Edwards, however, says Wales have trained to counter Samoa's physical attributes.

"We need to create momentum to go forward and have variation around our ball players," he said.

And Edwards also believes Wales can match Samoa in the scrum, insisting: "We were more than competitive in the scrum on the weekend. In the build-up to this tournament, we've said we'll have to match the southern hemisphere teams at the breakdown. That's been our goal all summer."

Wales will go into the game as favourites, but Edwards says that will not add any pressure.

"If people want to put that tag on us, that's fine. It's up to us to perform," he said.

"There was plenty of negativity in the media about our game against South Africa, but we were very happy with how we performed. In the end, we lost by one point. We can't afford to have any mistakes on the day."