Rob Howley was a mixture of pride, relief and defiance as Wales ended their slow-burning autumn series by incinerating South Africa.
The interim Wales coach – a 27-13 winner over the Springboks – also claimed there are signs that his team can move to a higher level on the back of three victories out of four in November.
Howley had taken heavy flak before this Test, but came out firing at many of his critics after his side beat the Springboks by a record score, however pitiful the opposition may have been compared to previous tourists.
Dismissing critics as “white noise”, the former scrum-half said: “The internal perception has always been that we are a very good team. We set ourselves goals this autumn of beating our November record and we have done that
“I don’t listen to the white noise. I don’t tend to read or listen to anything, it is the internal and external perception we all talk about.
“The internal perception is that we are a very good team and I think we showed that today. We were just concentrating on performing and trying to be the best we can as coaches and players on a Saturday.
“I am just delighted for the players, that is my overriding emotion, they deserved their victory” said Howley, who has taken the reins from Warren Gatland while the New Zealander focuses on his duties with the British and Irish Lions.
“I thought we were comfortable, we were able to stress South Africa more times than they were able to stress us.
“But we have spoken after the game that there is another level in us. At 20-6 we don’t make it easy for ourselves, we never have and we never will.
“Ireland have beaten Australia and England have been playing really well. We have taken a good scalp in South Africa and to have also beaten Argentina in an autumn series, I deem that a success.
“But, as I told the players afterwards, we will have to go to another level if we are going to get near England and Ireland. That is the challenge.”
Tries from Ken Owens and Justin Tipuric, plus 17 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny saw Wales home
Howley has taken heavy criticism in recent weeks, with some former players claiming he was not up to the job.
But the former Wales captain insisted: “I have loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s not a stressful job and I wouldn’t have missed the last five weeks for anything.”
Howley refused to be drawn on whether or not he will join Gatland for the Lions trip to New Zealand.
“This is a time for concentrating on Wales and what we have achieved,” he added.
Man-of-the-match and try-scorer Tipuric said: “We have trained hard for five weeks and it was good to get that result.
“South Africa fought to the end and gave us a late scare, but the boys dug in.”
It was an emphatic victory for Wales in every area except on the scoreboard where the margin did not reflect their dominance.
South Africa were simply awful, a team that lived up to its billing as the worst Springboks side in living memory with a record eight Test defeats in 2016.
But that should not detract from Wales’ achievement as they were a team under severe pressure following their heavy defeat to Australia and scrappy win over Japan.
There was nothing flashy about the victory, but Wales did the basics well, out-muscled the Boks, and won plenty of turnovers thanks to the classy Tipuric, Gethin Jenkins and Dan Biggar.
Wales led 12-6 at half-time as their workrate and discipline put an error-prone South African side under pressure.
Both sides struggled to create try-scoring opportunities, but Wales made fewer mistakes and when they pressured the Springboks into giving away penalties then Halfpenny was his usual deadly self.
The only setback was the serious-looking knee injury suffered by Dan Lydiate that forced the flanker off on a stretcher.
His departure brought on Taulupe Faletau whose line-out catch sparked the forward drive from which Ken Owens scored the opening try.
The Springboks fluffed the few opportunities that came their way, but eventually got it right from a line-out to score through flanker Uzair Cassiem with 11 minutes to go.
But Faletau set up the fleet-footed Tipuric for the crucial second try.
