Gavin Thomas has a daunting task when he faces the All Blacks for the first time at Carisbrook tonight. He is pitted against All Black captain Richie McCaw, the best openside flanker in the world.
Thomas (32) made his international debut against Japan in 2001 and has 22 caps. But he has been plagued by injury and this will be his first international since playing two tests against Australia in 2007.
"I snapped my Achilles tendon after that and it has been difficult getting back. But I never gave up. It is something I wanted to do."
Marking McCaw will certainly be a test of Thomas' mettle.
"I will be giving it my all, no matter whom I'm marking," he said.
"I need a good performance at the breakdown to negate his strength.
"New Zealand has quality players and they deserve to be respected. But at the end of the day we are just man against man."
Thomas believes it is the organisation on the field individually and collectively that makes the All Blacks difficult to beat.
"Their brand of rugby has been pretty special but other teams are catching up," he said.
He likes the new rules that are being applied to the breakdown this year.
"There is a bit more counter rucking and that seems to help me," he said.
"But you have to be very careful because you can give more penalties away."
Fullback Lee Byrne (30) made his debut for Wales against the All Blacks in 2005 but this is the first time he has been to New Zealand. It is his 34th test tonight.
"The country is passionate about rugby like Wales and I'm looking forward to playing this weekend," Byrne said.
"We respect the All Blacks. They are still a great team and we can't give them too many opportunities or we will get punished.
"We like to play rugby and give it a go. Sometimes it doesn't quite come off for us and we fall short. We have to learn from that and be more clinical."
Byrne has been playing international rugby for a long time and is aware of the history between Wales and the All Blacks.
"We haven't come down here for a holiday," he said.
"We want to be the first Welsh team in 57 years to beat the All Blacks."
