Steve Tandy said he was “really proud of the boys” after Wales’ 39-24 win over Fiji, highlighting effort, set piece and defensive resilience in his side.

Alongside the dismantling of Italy at the end of the Six Nations, and victory in the uncapped precursor against the Barbarians last week, Wales are starting to gain momentum under Tandy.

“Really proud of the boys,” the Wales coach said.

“Thought the effort they showed, it wasn’t always perfect, and Fiji will be proud of what they produced, some magical stuff, but I thought the way our boys kept going at it, chasing things down, not giving up, some of the goal line stuff was outstanding, and then our set piece was excellent, which is really pleasing.”

Wales scored six tries for the first time since the 2023 World Cup, where a Louis Rees-Zammit hattrick sealed top spot in the pool stage. Since then, they have found victories significantly harder to come by, with this latest scalp to open the Nations Championship another step on the improvement ladder.

Tandy underlined the contribution of the forwards platform and the way the side followed the tactical plan.

“The score of six tries is outstanding for the boys, and I love it when it comes from set piece as well,” he said.

“It’s where we know tactically going into the game, but ultimately credit to the players, they’ve got to deliver the plan, and the way they go about it is outstanding.

“Also the bench coming on makes a difference. That’s where we get the confidence to put people on as well, that we know that’s going to kick on.”

Tandy linked the performance to work done across recent campaigns.

“Boys work hard, this group, every day. You won’t ask these to work any harder, you see it every day,” he added.

“We’re always talking about how we accelerate faster, how we do it, and a large part is how we train/ I speak about competition a lot.

“The more we get competitive with the way we train, everything about that, it only pushes us on to get closer to the team we want to be.”

Captain Dewi Lake welcomed what he described as “sustained” progress.

“We knew Fiji were going to have moments,” Lake explained.

“They’re a tough team to stop when they’re playing their game. I think big thing for us through the week was, can we create an extra ruck, give ourselves a chance to stop that offload game, give ourselves a chance to get back onside and then go to work in our system.”

After a frantic first half which Wales were somewhat fortunate to head into the Cardiff City Stadium changing rooms level at 10-10, Lake’s side were able to better counter the Fijian threat with ball in hand, and eventually pull away from their opposition.

“For us, it was probably the support players around the tackler,” he said.

“We spoke about getting closer to even stop offloads. We were probably a little bit loose in terms of our work when you’re not involved in the tackle, and I think it was a big message at halftime for us that even if you’re not involved, you still play a key part in stopping that game.

“I think you probably saw more boys working harder around the tackle area as well. That was the big change for us.”

Lake also stressed the value of building a winning habit and a tight squad. With tough trips to Argentina and South Africa coming up in the next couple of weeks, Wales will have to reach another level if they are to build on this win.

“It’s unbelievable anytime you get to pull that jersey on and for it to end in a win as well,” he said.

“I know for some boys in that room it’s their first Test match win in a long time, maybe their first Test match win in the jersey. So I think building that experience of winning and that feeling of winning, and it becoming a habit for us, is really important as well.”

“Steve talks a lot about care, connection, getting to know people off the field rather than just coming together and expecting something to click,” Lake added.

“Everybody’s massively bonded. We know each other on and off the field, so I think in those little moments when you get a little win or when something goes your way, it’s easy to go and hug your mate and get together because we care a lot about each other off the field as well as on.”

Tandy said the focus would now turn quickly to the tour ahead, with travel and the physicality of Los Pumas and the Springboks a daunting propect.

“We’ll go back, we’ll enjoy this moment,” Tandy reflected.

“Test match rugby is tough, we’ll savour the win, but we’ll be concentrating, won’t be getting carried away with anything or looking on the outside.

“We’re going to keep looking at how we can get better, how we can keep accelerating. We’re going to face two unbelievable tests with limited training, but it’s going to be a unique test for us.

“How can we go again from today to make it better for tomorrow.”

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