Captain Ryan Jones fired a warning shot to the Springboks after Wales arrived in South Africa for their two-Test series.
Jones told a packed Cape Town press conference: “We’ll make sure we front up to the challenge ahead.
“South Africa have got fantastic players and they are playing in the Springbok shirt so they are going to be on fire. We’ve had some injuries, but the guys who have come in know what they have to do and they want to perform. I’m extremely confident in their abilities.
“We are under no illusions about the challenge we face because this is just about the toughest place in the world for Test rugby and we are up against the best team in the world right now.”
The skipper reflected on the year so far and praised head coach Warren Gatland and his back-up staff for the way the team has been prepared through the RBS 6 Nations to Grand Slam victory and for the current tour.
Jones added: “Warren brought with him a winning mentality and he and the other coaches have emphasised the importance of the basics. Technically we are getting better in the set pieces and obviously we are clearly progressing at thinking to a game plan.”
He also stated that the two-Test series ahead was based on current form and not on the 100-year history of fixtures between the two rugby nations.
“What has happened in the past will have no bearing on what happens in a few days time,” said Jones.
Gatland said the series will reveal just how far Wales have travelled as a team in the past six months and what will need to be addressed in the journey ahead.
He explained: “It is always difficult to come somewhere you have not had a lot of success before.
“A lot of the Welsh players have no problem testing themselves against northern hemisphere teams but it is against the southern hemisphere sides they sometimes have a bit of self doubt.
“So it is going to be important for us as coaches to see if we can raise the confidence levels in the squad over the next week.
“As world champions we give South Africa the highest respect and this is a great opportunity for us to come here and test ourselves against those world champions.
“This will show us how much we have improved over the past six months and what we need to do over the next few years to keep getting better.
“We want to see where we are so having performed well in the Six Nations we just want to see how much work we need to do going forward.
“We need to improve our world ranking and we want to compete against the best teams in the world.
“I am still a bit unsure of where we are as a team and that’s why we are playing against South Africa. We are expecting it to be extremely tough.”
