Wales coach Warren Gatland has hailed All Black skipper Richie McCaw as one of the best players in the world, but says his side needs to get 'physical' with the master of the breakdown.

Gatland insists that the only way to negate the man widely regarded as the world's best openside flank is to take him on physically.

"We are playing against one of the best players in the world in Richie McCaw," he said, "We've got to be as physical as we can be with McCaw, and hopefully make him feel like he has been in a game. That's part of the plan."

The coach says that while he does not promote foul play, he will urge his players to test the referee's tolerance around the rucks.

"The breakdown is about putting your body on the line - it's attritional," the New Zealander told ESPN Star.

"I've always been an advocate of the game being hard and physical. You take it to the letter of the law, but you don't cross it."

Wales will be looking to make history on the weekend by ending a run of 20 successive defeats against the All Blacks.

The big-name Welsh players will need to make an impact on the visitors to turnaround that losing streak, and Gatland knows that British and Irish Lions star Jami Roberts will be central to the cause.

"We are not trying to put too much pressure on him, but when you have a player who is that big and strong, you've got to use that.

"As the All Blacks will be looking to use Ma'a Nonu against us at times, we've got to use the size and strength of Jamie as well."

365

Lance's Cape Odyssey Lance Armstrong has already made a positive impact since arriving in Cape Town, writes Dan Nicholl.

SA must improve or else Bafana Bafana need to improve - or they will be in line for an early 2010 World Cup exit.

Try, try, try again We take a closer look at some of the contentious refereeing decisions of the Super 14...