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All Blacks inspired by Welsh victory

All Blacks prop Wyatt Crockett said he wanted the side to show the same determination in a crunch match at the tournament.

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Despite twice being behind by 10 points, injury-hit Wales beat their arch rivals 28-15 to throw Pool A wide open.

"It was a a great game," said Crockett said.

"I love watching a team when they're under that sort of pressure and dealing with all those injuries to watch them fight it out and scrap that game out was inspiring.

"Hopefully we can have that sort of resolve if something like that happens to us. Watching that was inspiring and I'm sure the Welsh boys will be looking back on that tape with a lot of pride and they'll be a tough team to beat."

All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock said he was impressed with the way Wales fought to the end against the odds.

"It shows that if it's tight you've got to play well for 80-plus minutes and you've got to make sure you prepare for that by having systems in place whether you're up or down," he said.

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The outcome of Australia's games against England and Wales will dictate which two teams from Pool A go through to the play-offs.

Wales also have to contend with Fiji, and although the Pacific Islanders have lost their first two games to England and Australia, they have proved a formidable opposition.

Whitelock said one thing in Wales' favour was the motivating passion of their fans, which was evident on the streets of Cardiff on Saturday when the All Blacks arrived ahead of their next game against Georgia.

"You could really hear the supporters out there enjoying the night, it was awesome and the boys enjoyed seeing how supportive Wales are of their home team," he said.

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Hooker Keven Mealamu said he found it difficult to get to sleep in his central Cardiff hotel once the street parties started up after the final whistle.

"I kept hearing 'Wales! Wales!' people were screaming 'Wales' outside my bedroom. It was a good game to watch I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of the best spectacles you like to see when games come right down to the end there," Mealamu said.

England had a chance to level the score a few minutes from the end but turned down a penalty shot at goal in favour of a lineout and a chance for a match-winning try only to have the moved snuffed out by the fired up Welsh pack.

Despite the plan backfiring, Mealamu believed England made the right decision.

"I back what they did. You play to win the game, you don't play to draw," he added.

AFP

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