Horwill hungry after long year

The teams get an early chance to re-acquaint themselves after fighting it out for the bronze medal at the World Cup, when the Wallabies came out on top 21-18.

"We want to finish by winning a Test match and show to ourselves we can play some good rugby and make sure we finish the year well for the group. "
James Horwill Quotes of the week

And in a year that has seen the tourists play 13 Test matches, Horwill and co have every right to believe that a break is long overdue.

But the lock insists the squad is in the right place mentally to end 2011 on a high.

"We are ready to go," he said. "We have a lot of time off and plenty of time to think about it and we want to finish the year on the right note.

"It has been a big year and we want to make sure going into the break we have good memories of the things we have done here, we are really looking forward to the game.

"We want to finish by winning a Test match and show to ourselves we can play some good rugby and make sure we finish the year well for the group.

"As I said, it's been a big year and we feel we owe it to each other to put in a fine performance that is worthy of the effort put in throughout the year. It is 80 minutes of hard work and then we can have our holidays after that."

Motivator

Horwill expects the hosts will be hard to beat on home soil, particularly with the legendary Shane Williams playing in his final Test.

"It will get the boys up," he said. "Not only the Welsh crowd but his team-mates will want to send him out on the right note and that is a huge motivator for any group, to do it for a guy that has been such a huge and important part of Welsh rugby and done so much for the game here in Wales.

"They want to send him out on a high and I guess we are here to spoil that party."

The Millennium Stadium roof will be shut for Saturday's showdown, but Horwill does not feel the atmosphere will prove a problem for his men and believes keeping the elements out could make for a thrilling spectacle.

"It is a new experience for some of the guys," he said. "I played under it when it was shut in 2009 and it adds to the spectacle, the noise gets trapped in.

"It will be a dry pitch and I think it will be good for both teams as they will want a dry, fast pitch for a pretty entertaining game."