Leigh Halfpenny urges Wales to be positive against New Zealand
Leigh Halfpenny believes Wales must "take it to New Zealand" in their quest for a rare victory over the All Blacks on Saturday.
Wales have not beaten the world champions for 64 years, losing 29 successive Tests and conceding almost 1,000 points.
They went close in 1978 and 2004, losing 13-12 and 26-25, but the All Blacks' dominance has proved unrelenting.
"We need to take it to New Zealand," Wales full-back Halfpenny said.
"We have to be smart and play in the right areas with whatever defensive picture is in front of us, but against Australia (three weeks ago) we played some good rugby and took a lot of positives from the game.
"We've been working on the game plan and we are looking forward to playing with two playmakers being able to move the ball around. It helps us play a more expansive game.
"We know the quality of the All Blacks and how talented they are across the park and how dangerous they are with ball in hand.
"They have got players that can create opportunities, and they are pretty clinical when they have those opportunities.
"From a defensive point of view, we need to do our homework, getting the details right. You can't switch off against the All Blacks. If it is for one second, they can hurt you. Defensively, we have to be on the money."
Four of Wales' match-day 23 this weekend - Alun Wyn Jones, Rhys Webb, Ken Owens and Taulupe Faletau - helped the British and Irish Lions beat New Zealand in Wellington earlier this year, while Halfpenny tasted victory against them as a substitute for the Barbarians eight years ago.
"I came off the bench for the last 10 minutes," he added. "Bryan Habana ran in three tries. It was an amazing experience to play alongside so many world-class players who had achieved so much. I was only 20 at the time.
"I had that shirt framed and put up on the wall in my house alongside my first Wales jersey and first Lions jersey from 2009. It's in an office space on the wall. If we were to win on Saturday, it would certainly be a jersey to keep.
"It would be pretty special to beat the All Blacks in a Welsh jersey. None of us have done that. We know the challenge ahead, but we are extremely excited about it."
In terms of challenges, few will forget how Halfpenny and company faced New Zealand's pre-match Haka nine years ago, lining up to embrace it and then not budging until their opponents moved first.
Any repeat on Saturday in front of a 74,500 sell-out crowd would provide sporting theatre at its finest.
"It was an amazing moment," recalled Halfpenny, who was a 19-year-old winning just his third cap.
"The All Blacks had just finished their Haka and they go to walk off, but they see we are not moving and they're thinking: 'we're not moving either.' It was a stand-off.
"You could hear the crowd realising something was going on that was pretty iconic. You could hear the crowd just erupt, cheering and shouting: 'Wales, Wales'.
"We were on our home patch, in our stadium and we were adamant that we weren't going to move. Eventually, the All Blacks moved and we were able to go ahead. It was brilliant."