MIKE Ruddock and Clive Griffiths have been in the job for less than a month but already the former Dragons coaching duo have stamped their identity on the Wales squad.

Wales romped to a 42-0 victory over an under-par Barbarians side in Bristol last night to help Ruddock get his tenure as national coach off to a winning start.

With it came his first piece of silverware, more then Steve Hansen managed in three years, and while the performance wasn't great, the result was.

Ruddock, regarded as one of the best set-piece coaches in the world, looks to have tightened up the line-out, but the scrum still looks as if it going to need a lot more work before Wales' forthcoming tour.

The Wales defence adopted a new strategy, not allowing the Baa-baas to gain momentum, closing them down quickly, looking for the interception and forcing the knock-on.

It was a Clive Griffiths tactic adopted by the Dragons this season and while it isn't the most complex, it worked perfectly last night.

Ruddock said: "We practised intercepting passes in training and we decided to defend very high and to close them down very quickly. We used it for the Dragons and it worked very well, it's high risk and high reward and that proved to be the case last night."

Barbarians games are often entertaining affairs but this one won't live long in the memory. While Wales didn't exactly enter into the spirit of this 'friendly' they can be forgiven for wanting to get a morale-boosting victory under their belts before heading out to Argentina and South Africa.

Ruddock can also be forgiven both for picking a side designed to spoil the Barbarians' expansive game and sending them out with the sole intention of collecting a win, and he will be well pleased with his first game in charge.

His side didn't concede a point and scored a mammoth 42 against a side packed full of internationals and it was the first time the Barbarians had failed to score a point against Wales.

Wales looked solid in defence and the set-pieces finally look as if they may be heading in the right direction while Adam Jones played more than 30 minutes without looking out of breath.

Gavin Henson shone despite playing out of position in the centre and remains one of Wales' most exciting talents while Ceri Sweeney put the Warriors turmoil behind him and deputised very capably for Stephen Jones.

Dragons forward Michael Owen picked up another man-of-the-match award and added to his growing reputation while Jason Forster showed he can take his club form on to the international stage.

And Hal Luscombe joined Henson in breaking his try duck at Wales level.

On the negative side, Gareth Thomas looks as if he will miss the tour after damaging ankle ligaments midway through the second-half while Shane Williams suffered a suspected broken nose after being clattered by Dafydd James.

Wales scored six tries through Sweeney, Thomas, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Henson and Luscombe, Sweeney adding two penalties and three conversions.

Henson's try in particular lit up an otherwise forgettable, one-sided game, the Neath/Swansea Ospreys man going on a darting run from just inside the half-way line which took him past several players with a variety of dummies and side-steps before he outpaced the defence.

Henson hugely impressed Ruddock and if Thomas misses the tour he may get a long stint in the side in his preferred full-back position.

Sweeney started things off, splitting the defence to score the first try of the evening after Owen's break, and after that Wales never looked back.

Wales: tries: Sweeney, G. Thomas, R. Williams, Peel, Henson, Luscombe; cons: Sweeney (3); pens: Sweeney (2).

Wales: G. Thomas (H Luscombe 67), R. Williams, S Parker, G Henson, S. Williams (N Robinson 76), C Sweeney, D Peel (M Phillips 72), D. Jones, M Davies (H Bennett 72), A. Jones (G Jenkins 66), B Cockbain,G Llewellyn (P Sidoli 71), C Charvis, J Forster (D Jones 45), M Owen.

Barbarians: Reihana (Castaignede 40, Persico 75), James, Traille (Humphreys 46), Grey, Paulse, Burke, N. de Kock, Le Roux, Sexton (Oliver 57), Bands (Leonard 53), Mika, Connors, Magne, Vos, E. Miller (Finegan 56).

Att: 11,381