AT TIMES it has seemed as though Lloyd Christmas has been an inspiration for the Wales squad ahead of their daunting meeting with the All Blacks.

In the film Dumb and Dumber the hapless character asks what his chances are with the woman he has pursued across the country. He is told they are not good.

"You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?" he asks only to get the response that it's more like one in a million.

"So you're telling me there's a chance."

Wales have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953, some 25 games ago.

But, in the week that Wales Under-16s won football's Victory Shield for the first time since 1948/49, Warren Gatland's team will have been telling themselves this week that hoodoos are there to be broken.

The odds are stacked against them given that they can't get over the line against Australia let alone possibly the greatest New Zealand side in their history.

My composite side would feature a quartet of Welshmen – lock Alun Wyn Jones, fly-half Dan Biggar, full-back Leigh Halfpenny and openside Sam Warburton.

Yes, openside Sam Warburton who can win his personal duel with one of the greatest players of all time. Richie McCaw encapsulates what makes the world champions so great but the Wales captain can get the better of the legendary 33-year-old at the breakdown.

He's a rugby giant and elsewhere the tourists have a pretty formidable list of stars; try machine Julian Savea, the bulky and classy midfield partnership of Sonny Bill Williams and Conrad Smith, supreme scrum-half Aaron Smith, bruising locks Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock plus number eight Kieran Read, the world player of the year.

New Zealand have beaten Wales in their last 13 trips to the capital but have been downed at the Millennium Stadium thanks to a mixture of luck and determination.

France got the benefit of some calls by referee Wayne Barnes (today's whistler) when knocking Graham Henry's side out of the 2007 World Cup but they also showed oodles of spirit with Thierry Dusautoir famously making 38 tackles.

But this is a far better New Zealand side; seven years ago they fluffed their lines when trying to wrestle the lead back at the death against Les Bleus whereas now they remain cool under pressure.

If they are to be the victims of a huge upset then it will be a combination of them under-performing and Wales being at their best.

As Biggar put it, "anything below nine out of 10 from each of us is probably not going to be good enough".

They must cut out the defensive errors that cost them against the Wallabies and hold on to the ball much better than they did against Fiji when they turned the ball over 22 times.

Too many of their players were solid against the Aussies and Gatland needs his big ball carriers to produce the goods.

Taulupe Faletau managed just four metres with ball in hand in the autumn opener, Richard Hibbard made five metres, lock Jones managed 16 in 11 attempts and Dan Lydiate clocked up zero.

Wales need plenty of options to go along with centres Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies plus a back three that can pose plenty of problems.

Aggression is needed against the All Blacks and Warburton and Co will provide plenty of that this evening.

It must be married with concentration and I expect Wales will produce comfortably their best display of the autumn.

But sadly one fears the visitors' class will reign again, leaving Wales still waiting.

Wales: L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, J Davies, J Roberts, G North, D Biggar, R Webb, P James, R Hibbard, S Lee, J Ball, A W Jones, D Lydiate, S Warburton (captain), T Faletau. Replacements: S Baldwin, N Smith, R Jones, L Charteris, J Tipuric, M Phillips, J Hook, L Williams.

New Zealand: B Smith, C Piutau, C Smith, S Williams, J Savea, B Barrett, A Smith, W Crockett, D Coles, O Franks, B Retallick, S Whitelock, J Kaino, R McCaw (captain), K Read. Replacements: K Mealamu, J Moody, C Faumuina, P Tuipulotu, L Messam, TJ Perenara, C Slade, R Crotty.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)