Howley calls for 'step up'

Wales backs coach Rob Howley has described Saturday's Millennium Stadium clash against Australia as "a defining game."

Victory over the Wallabies for a second successive season at home would send Wales into the 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship with high hopes they could mount a significant title challenge. Having beaten Samoa and Argentina on the back of a battling display in defeat against New Zealand, Wales are anxious for a successful autumn Test finale.

"We need to step up from the Argentina performance," said former Wales captain Howley. "We need to do that at the contact area, especially from a technical point of view. Our accuracy was disappointing and we had opportunities, but on occasions our handling let us down."

He added: "We scored three tries against Argentina and have just gone above them in the world rankings to sixth, so that is another improvement for us.

"This is now a defining game against Australia. Everyone realises we beat them last year, and we would like to think we are favourites.

"We beat them 21-18 last year, and we go into the game knowing we need to find another level if we are to repeat that.

"We are expecting a huge game, and it is really the clash of the autumn series from our perspective.

"We want to go into the Six Nations with momentum and confidence."