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Wellington - Wales prop Adam Jones believes coach Warren Gatland has changed his team’s mentality ahead of their crunch opening game of the RWC against the Springboks.
Wales kick-off their campaign in Pool D against the tournament holders in Wellington on Saturday in a game that will go a long way to deciding who progresses to the quarter-finals.
The Springboks have only once been defeated by the Dragons - back in 1999 in Cardiff - yet despite a 12-year wait since that historic victory, front-row star Jones is adamant Wales still believe they can topple the defending champions.
"Gats has installed a mentality that we can beat them and when we do, then I think we will really push on," Jones said.
"When I first started playing (for Wales), if we got within four or five points of South Africa, the champagne would be going in the changing room and we would be chuffed to bits. But that’s not the case any more. If we lose then we are genuinely disappointed.
"We’ve been disappointed a few times we’ve played against them recently, especially in Cardiff. Last year we pushed them hard and were totally dominant until half-time before they brought on one of their flankers [Willem Alberts] and he changed the game.
"This [Test] is probably one of the bigger games this weekend. It’s a big occasion that we have waited and trained hard for it. It’s massive."
South Africa could be without their record-breaking second-row partnership this weekend.
Victor Matfield is struggling with a hamstring injury though it is the Achilles tendon problem of his long-term partner Bakkies Botha that is causing the Springbok management most concern.
That would rule out a reunion with Wales’ British Lion Jones, who was ruled out of rugby for six months with a dislocated a shoulder following an off-the-ball challenge by Botha in the second Lions Test in 2009.
Jones said: "It’s a couple more years down the line now. They have got players who can come in, but Bakkies is a big part of the team and it will be a blow for them. He's a world-class player, but they have the strength to cope with it.
"I’ve played against them quite a few times, and they have a very good pack. Whoever they pick will be pretty formidable.
"When the South Africans are revved up for the game, they can be pretty formidable. The Lions Test series showed that. As a scrummager, you have pretty much got to push as hard as you can.
"I watched the South Africa-New Zealand game recently, and their front-row did a bit of a number on the All Blacks."
Wales have their own injury concerns ahead of their opening game.
Jones looks set to be the only member of that all-Welsh Lions frontrow to take the field at Wellington this Sunday with Gethin Jenkins struggling to recover from a long-term ankle complaint and captain Matthew Rees already ruled out.
