Gareth Llewellyn has won 66 caps in the second row

And, despite the first match reverse, Llewellyn is relishing another crack at the South Africans on Saturday in Cape Town.

"There's a lot of belief in the dressing room. We took a lot of confidence from the first match, and it could have been different if we had done some things properly," he said.

"But we are looking forward to the second Test and there's still room for improvement.

"If we can eradicate some of the mistakes we made to give South Africa their tries then we can be very competitive again.

"Having said that, we are a long way off where we want to be. Steve Hansen came in with some new policies and we are still working on them."

Happy squad

Llewellyn, who made his Wales debut against New Zealand in 1989, says he thought his days at international level were over after sliding out of contention in Graham Henry's reign.

But he added: "I've probably got a lot to thank Mike Ruddock for. He fought my corner and got me back int the Wales A set-up this season.

"Luckily that went well and I did enough to earn a place on this tour. It's something I never thought would happen again and I'm over the moon.

"Things have also gone well back at Neath. It's a happy squad and keeps your enthusiasm going."

"People make a big thing about ages these days, but I'll only be 34 at the next Rugby World Cup and I hope to do enough to be involved."