WALES are getting there, and in the not-too-distant future they will make it to the top.

That is the view of coach Steve Hansen, who has just one more match in charge of the Wales team, against Italy next Saturday, before returning to his native New Zealand.

"We are starting to make the progress we believe we are capable of," he said after Saturday's second heartbreaking defeat in a row against England.

"Success breeds success, and the whole nature of this team is maturing.

"We saw outstanding performances from Michael Owen and Gethin Jenkins around the park, and an improvement in his scrummaging.

"Once the forwards get comfortable with the job they are being asked to do, and understand their jobs and have the time to mature the pack will deliver the ball more regularly.

"The team understands the process they are going through. There is a huge amount of reality within the group, and they use defeat as something to feed their work ethic and they understand why they are being beaten, rather than it being a burden.

"The problem when we are competing against the really big sides is the form of professionalism they have. "They have been professional in their attitude for six years and we are in the first stages. In the next 18 months you will see the physical development in players like Duncan Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Michael Owen, Jonathan Thomas and Dafydd Jones, who are just starting out.

"The physical thing got to us in the end and we just ran out of a little bit of steam. It's no fault of the players.

Two years ago we had a record defeat here, today it could have gone either way.

"There is still a way to go, but soon Wales will turn close defeats into victories."

Hansen was still gracious in defeat despite the obvious disappointment, and he praised England.

"They took it back off us, they kept their composure and they came back at us and asked questions, which is why they are world champions," he said.

"They knew they had to win or face a huge amount of criticism.

"There was a fine line between victory and defeat. If Dwayne Peel's bounce had gone the other way we might have won.

"Victory would have been a huge lift for Wales and would have put England under more pressure. They have been harshly treated after Ireland, they lost one game, England are still a very good side.

"They are a different team. Martin Johnson is not in it, for a start, but they have got the monkey off their back today. They were under the cosh in a big way, but they stuck together and they came back."

Wales captain Colin Charvis said: "The last few times we did well for 20 minutes, then England took the game away and there were record defeats.

"But we knew if we came here and were at our best we could compete with them. "At half-time we said we had got to dig in and get some points which we did, but it wasn't enough."