Nick Tompkins feels New Zealand’s loss to England adds extra spice to Wales clash

Wales centre Nick Tompkins believes New Zealand’s defeat to England adds extra spice for their visit to Cardiff.

England ended the All Blacks’ ambitions of an autumn Grand Slam by roaring back from conceding 12 early points at Allianz Stadium to win 33-19.

New Zealand’s defeat was met with dismay back home with fans and media urging Scott Robertson’s side to bounce back this Saturday and restore lost pride.

“They’ll be fired right up so you have to match it,” said Tompkins, whose only previous experience of playing against New Zealand was a 55-23 defeat in Cardiff three years ago.

“There may be some added spice. It will make it a brilliant game because you know they’ll come out strong.

“It’s not daunting playing New Zealand. What’s daunting is putting in a performance proving you should be there and not letting people down.

“I’ve been in these situations before and so have other people, you learn to relish it.

“You’d be letting yourself down if you didn’t throw yourself into it.”

Three of Tompkins’ Saracens team-mates – Ben Earl, Jamie George and Maro Itoje – were part of England’s first victory over New Zealand at Twickenham since 2012.

But Tompkins said he had decided against seeking out their advice how to upset New Zealand before their trip to Cardiff.

He said: “I’ve not had the chance to message them yet and I’ll be seeing them soon.

“I don’t want to give them too much – Ben Earl’s already got a big head!”

Clean sweep

Wales meet New Zealand – who had already beaten Ireland and Scotland this autumn and were targeting a clean sweep – after registering only their second victory in 21 Test matches against Japan.

Jarrod Evans secured a 24-23 victory with the last kick of the match to end a 10-match losing home streak for Wales.

Welsh players were criticised in some quarters for over-celebrating a victory that protected their world ranking of 12th.

“I don’t blame any of them (for their reaction), we hadn’t won a home game for two years,” Tompkins said.

“You have to enjoy the wins. This is fleeting and winning is not easy.

“I’m so pleased for them and Jarrod as well, to do what he did takes a lot of nerve.

“So enjoy that moment because we need to keep that positivity to build something here.

“We are close and I think it’s coming. We’ve got to stick to what we know and I think we’ll get there. I really do believe that.”