Sam Warburton and Dan Biggar have urged Wales head coach Steve Tandy to resist making wholesale changes to his side for next weekend's showdown with New Zealand despite an underwhelming performance against Japan.
Wales began their autumn Nations Championship campaign with a nervy 28-21 victory over Eddie Jones' Brave Blossoms at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, with Josh Adams scoring twice and Archie Griffin and Louis Rees-Zammit also crossing the whitewash.
However, it was far from a convincing display from the hosts, who struggled to put Japan away and were left clinging on in the closing stages after Shinya Komura's late converted try reduced the deficit to just seven points.
Former captains back continuity
With the All Blacks next up in Cardiff, there will inevitably be questions over whether Tandy should shuffle his pack ahead of a considerably tougher assignment. But speaking on ITV after the final whistle, former Wales captains Warburton and Biggar were united in their belief that continuity is the best approach, with both suggesting only minor alterations to the starting XV.
Warburton believes Tandy should take a leaf out of Warren Gatland's book and give his players another opportunity to prove themselves rather than reacting too dramatically to a disappointing performance.
"I always like what Warren Gatland used to do. He backed his team once and just because it's been slightly underwhelming doesn't mean you make wholesale changes," Warburton said. "I think he will trust this team and go, 'I'll give you another chance to go again'."
Front row and back row options
The former British and Irish Lions captain did, however, suggest that changes in the front row could be considered after Wales' replacements made a positive impact against Japan. Rhys Carre, Ryan Elias and Tomas Francis were introduced shortly after half-time, replacing Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake and Griffin, and helped Wales gain some ascendancy at scrum time.
Warburton believes the balance of the front row will be important against New Zealand, particularly when considering the combinations of loosehead and tighthead props.
"He might flip the props, not because they played poorly, because they had good impact - Carre particularly," he added. "But I don't think you're going to put Rhys Carre together with Archie Griffin. Which is why you saw Archie Griffin paired with Nicky Smith."
"Maybe they might give James Botham a game at No.6 and swap out Alex Mann, even though I thought Alex Mann played admirably today. He was his combative usual self." Mann has become an increasingly important figure in Tandy's back row, providing defensive work alongside Jac Morgan and Aaron Wainwright, but Botham could offer an alternative against the physicality of the All Blacks.
Costelow backed at fly-half
Biggar, meanwhile, was particularly keen to see Sam Costelow retain the No.10 jersey after the Scarlets fly-half was handed the responsibility of directing Wales' attack against Japan. Costelow enjoyed some encouraging moments and kicked all three of his conversion attempts before being replaced by Dan Edwards in the second half.
While Biggar acknowledged that the 25-year-old could have made better decisions with ball in hand on occasions, he believes the benefits of allowing combinations to develop outweigh the temptation to make changes.
"I would stick with Sam Costelow. I thought he went OK," Biggar said. "Yes there were a couple of moments where he probably could have kept the ball in hand rather than put it through on foot. But I think on the whole, I completely agree with Sam, I wouldn't be changing a whole lot for next week. Build on the combinations."
"Yes, the props can be changed, but I think maybe just go again, go again, try and get two, three, four games in. I wouldn't be looking to change a huge amount if I was Steve Tandy."
Performance below expectations
The comments come after a frustrating afternoon for Wales, who repeatedly threatened to take control of the contest only to allow Japan back into it through costly errors.
Griffin's fourth-minute try gave the hosts a dream start, but Ben Gunter capitalised on a Welsh mistake to level the scores. Adams then restored the advantage before Japan captain Warner Dearns crossed to make it 14-14. Rees-Zammit's first Test try of 2026 ensured Wales led at the break, but they struggled to build on that advantage during a scrappy second half.
Adams' second try, created by a brilliant counter-attack involving Blair Murray and Tomos Williams, appeared to have finally settled the contest before Komura's late score set up a tense finish.
Tandy himself admitted afterwards that his side had fallen short of expectations, despite securing a bonus-point victory. "It's a bonus-point win. It's good to start with a result. I can't run away from the performance," he said. "There are elements we need to improve. I thought we'd be better. We weren't ruthless enough."
"I'm proud of the boys and the win. It's great for us to get a game. Getting a hit out for the first time since the summer, it does get clunky. It helps to review after a bonus point win. We'll enjoy it but the beauty of this group is the hunger to get better quicker. We'll definitely have to do that."
That improvement will need to come quickly, with New Zealand arriving in Cardiff next weekend having beaten Scotland 43-21 at Murrayfield earlier on Saturday.
