WALES embarked on the toughest tour of them all today, with coach Steve Hansen claiming they went in a very positive frame of mind.

A trip Down Under to play arguably the best two rugby nations on earth in world champions Australia and a resurgent New Zealand is seen as folly by many pundits.

And Wales left without their strongest squad after their seventh defeat in a row, at the hands of the Barbarians.

But Hansen said his side had taken "many positives" out of the game and would get even more from their trip.

"We got answers to some questions," he said, "and the tour will answer some more questions.

"We needed to give people who hadn't played much rugby for various reasons a game, and we introduced some new players to the team.

"We're very happy with the way things went. We did some things we'd been working on in training and other things we've left in the bag.

"It was about performance, and I thought we performed well, but unfortunately the Barbarians performed better. But there were lots of positives.

"Tom Shanklyn scored three tries, Colin Charvis played very well, better than he has played for a long time, Adam Jones played well until the heat got to him.

"Our ball retention wasn't the best, and with the heat the ball gets just as slippery with sweat as it does when it's raining. But it gave us a really good indication about what we can expect in the World Cup."

Hansen also praised Wales' star man, Iestyn Harris, getting better with every display at inside centre.

"He played very, very well and showed the class player he is with ball in hand. He did well."