Jones: Taking the positives

Wales' 17-16 defeat means they cannot realistically afford any further Pool D slip-ups, with Samoa next Sunday being followed by Namibia and Fiji.

But lock Jones has no doubt Wales are on the right road in pursuit of a quarter-final place.

"The funny thing is we are always under pressure, given the nature of the beast and what we are involved in,'' he said.

"Sometimes, the bigger the game, the better the player and the better the team can be for it.

"It's only one game in, but we are trying to create that momentum that we had when we've been involved in Six Nations Grand Slams in the past.

"The first win here has proved elusive, but there is momentum even from a loss this time, which we can use to our advantage.

"It was a massive disappointment losing by a point. I think you would rather get pumped than lose by one. But there was also so much good we can take from that game.''

Samoa launch their World Cup campaign against Namibia in Rotorua on Wednesday, but Wales have already closely analysed their impressive victory over Australia earlier this summer, which revealed the South Sea Islanders to be more than just a big tackling team.

"The outstanding thing about them in that game was their work in contact,'' added Jones.

"They dominated that area, which was a big achievement given the strength of Australia's back row. Samoa's number seven (Maurie Fa'asavalu) was exceptional in that match.

"Samoa have always had great individuals, guys who figure for European teams, but they seemed to come together against Australia and won the contact.

"We can learn a lot from watching that Australia game when they did a good job on the Wallabies, but it will be interesting to see how they go in their first game out here.''

Jones, though, still expects some trademark Samoan rugby to come Wales' way at Waikato Stadium.

"You usually get one big tackler in a side, but with the Pacific Island teams they are all equipped to make big hits,'' he said.

"It tests how good you are technically, I suppose. But it's part of the game and it is exciting for the fans to see.''

Samoa have beaten Wales in two previous World Cups - 1991 and 1999 - although only Stephen Jones remains in the current squad from 12 years ago.

But if Wales can repeat the quality of their Springboks display, then Samoa should have their work cut out, particularly at set-piece time where Jones and company delivered strong scrum and lineout performances.

"We lost two from 17 lineouts - not 100 per cent, but 89 per cent on the stats. It could have been better, but the main thing was that with the ball we did win we were able to get (scrum-half) Mike (Phillips) moving,'' he added.

"We want to get him on his way so he can get the ball to our outside backs. So the important thing isn't so much actually winning the ball, as what we do

with it.

"You can have a 100 per cent lineout, but it's not much good if you are grubber-kicking the ball from the lineout.''