Jonathan Davies: Pride reclaimed with powerful display of belief

Wales shook the World Cup to its foundations with a performance that would have flabbergasted the Welsh nation almost as much as it did New Zealand.

There were many sheepish hands being raised yesterday, mine among them, to own up to the expectation that Wales would be given the traditional All Blacks hiding. Not only did they avoid that, they very nearly caused the biggest upset in the tournament's history with a performance that can't be rated any less that fantastic.

Like Samoa did to England, and Ireland to Australia, Wales sent New Zealand away to ponder a pecking order that no longer looks straightforward. Suddenly, no one is bestriding the World Cup like a colossus.

The title is still likely to go to one of the top four, but I wouldn't rule out shocks to come. Ireland can worry France, South Africa are gathering strength ominously and, as from now, England will have a lot more to worry about prior to the meeting with Wales on Sunday.

England will be a different prospect because they won't play the expansive game that New Zealand attempted yesterday. They will have seen enough to persuade them to keep it physical and tight up front.

They wouldn't have learned much from their own outing against Uruguay. I would have picked my best team for that match but Clive Woodward thought otherwise and at least those who did play got the cobwebs out of the system and registered a few reminders about their form. It was good to see Will Greenwood get a chance to ease himself back. Mike Catt did very well, but I can't see him getting back into the team yet. And there won't be any change to the back three of Josh Lewsey, Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen.

But they'll need to worry about what the Welsh discovered about themselves against the All Blacks - and the main thing was how well they can play when they raise the intensity and pace of their play.

Immediately after the game, I texted my congratulations to Clive Griffiths, who is the Welsh defence coach and the former manager of the Welsh rugby league team I played in. His reply said simply: "Belief - you remember it my old mate, we lived on it."

That says it all. When you can believe in yourself anything is possible. We saw it in the Irish performance on Saturday when they were desperately unlucky not to beat Australia, and we saw it in the Welsh yesterday.

They were classed as a second-string team and the coach, Steve Hansen, took stick from practically everyone. He knew something we didn't. Considering Wales had been beaten 55-3 by the All Blacks in the summer, he might been operating on a wing and a prayer, but he has ended up with a squad that is bulging at the seams with candidates to play on Sunday.

Wales were excellent in the line-out, heroic in the scrums, their ball retention was superb and their fitness and strength a tribute to all their hard work. Ireland's inspiration, Keith Wood, spoke about the shackles being removed and I know exactly what he means.

There's so much pressure on qualifying through the pool matches that you tend to play a calculated, structured game. Once you've achieved that you can let yourself go and it's amazing what can be achieved when players follow their instincts.

Wales have let poorer sides dictate the pace so when they come against better opposition they've struggled to match the speed of the game. Not anymore, I think, after the way they upped the intensity yesterday. Welsh fans have waited a long time to see their side play with the dash and verve they showed yesterday. I've thought for a while that Wales are better than they've looked in recent years and they've shown the world that they are.

When a player such asShane Williams, who hasn't had a look-in for two years, can skin All Blacks like he did, it opens so many possibilities. Gareth Thomas's performance as the full-back replacement for the unfortunate Garan Evans was absolutely commanding.

For a 21-year-old, Jonathan Thomas had an immense game. How can you change that back row? Alix Popham had a great game and, as he plays against the English every week for Leeds, I don't see how you can leave him out.

If Wales had played what we thought of as their first team, they might have won. Certainly, I believe Iestyn Harris could have a field day.

But even to think that is an insult to the players who did the best day's business for Wales that I can remember. Whatever happens in the rest of the tournament, Welsh rugby rediscovered itself in Sydney and the gloom has been lifted in a manner no one could have predicted.