Coach Warren Gatland says Wales must reach another level

Wales coach Warren Gatland has urged his players to earn the respect of South Africa when they clash in the upcoming two-Test series.

Grand Slam winners Wales face the world champions in Bloemfontein on 7 June and again in Pretoria a week later.

"It's going to be a massive challenge for us in South Africa," Gatland said.

"We haven't set any goals for what we want to achieve but if we come back having earnt a huge amount of respect then I'm going to be more than happy."

Despite a famous clean sweep in the Six Nations, Gatland warned that Wales cannot afford to rest on their laurels in South Africa where they have lost all six previous meetings on Springbok turf.

"Let's not think that this [winning the Grand Slam] is the pinnacle of what we want to achieve as a team in terms of going forward and getting better," Gatland added.

"It's a big message we've been giving the players that there is another level, a level beyond what we achieved in the Six Nations.

"The guys are really excited, they've trained very hard in the gym and on the field.

"Our goal is to go over there and frighten them as much as we can and... try and get an historic win if we can.

"It is always difficult to come somewhere you have not had a lot of success before.

"A lot of the Welsh players have no problem testing themselves against northern hemisphere teams but it is against the southern hemisphere sides they sometimes have a bit of self-doubt.

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"So it is going to be important for us as coaches to see if we can raise the confidence levels in the squad over the next week.

"As world champions we give South Africa the highest respect and this is a great opportunity for us to come here and test ourselves.

"This will show us how much we have improved over the past six months and what we need to do over the next few years to keep getting better."