Defence guru Clive Griffiths insists Wales are heading in the right direction despite conceding 38 points against South Africa on Saturday.

Wales conceded four tries and four penalties but national defensive coach Griffiths feels there were more positives than negatives to take out of their performance.

He said: "There were a huge amount of plusses to take out of the game. We continued with the new structure of a blitz defence and it worked very well.

"The first try we were very disappointed with because we did all the hard work from the initial scrum and then proceeded to get our running defensive lines all wrong which allowed the centre to step back inside, and then we missed a tackle. But what people need to realise is that the way we play we are going to ship a few points.

"We conceded a couple of tries from turnovers and that is going to happen, because you are on attacking mode and your defensive lines aren't set.

"But overall I'm very pleased and we are moving in the right direction. We matched them in many areas and stood up to the challenge physically and that has to be a huge plus as they are one of the best sides in World rugby."

Griffiths felt Wales were harshly treated by referee Paddy O'Brien.

"We conceded 12 points from penalties, three of which we hotly contest, but we've got to move forward and take the positive and they are that we have a very good scramble defence," he said.

Griffiths knows Wales face an altogether different challenge against Romania on Friday.

He said: "There is going be a lot of defence up front and the driving maul is something we are going to have to be prepared for."

He added: "Mike (chief coach Mike Ruddock) and I were entrusted with taking the side to Wrexham before the World Cup last year and it was an arm-wrestle early on and they actually scored a try via a catch and drive line-out and that gives you an indication of how they will play.

"They will start out with a lot of enthusiasm and we have to make sure that we put them down. We will have to sew the seeds of doubt early on. We can't give them any piggybacks and can' give them any confidence boosters.

"They are the underdogs and we can't allow them any momentum which will give them a boost to make life difficult for ourselves."