NUMBER eight Taulupe Faletau believes the way that Wales gave the world champions a scare bodes well for ending their autumn on a high against South Africa.

New Zealand are the best side on the planet but were made to sweat for their success in Cardiff at the weekend.

It was another sob story for Wales but they don't have long to lick their wounds – the second best team are in town.

The autumn ends with South Africa, who broke Welsh hearts with a 31-30 success in Nelspruit in June, visiting the Millennium Stadium.

The Springboks have already been beaten by Ireland in November, were unconvincing winners against Italy at the weekend, have a lengthy injury list and do not have the services of their France-based players.

It provides a glimmer of hope that Wales can claim the scalp of a southern hemisphere big gun for the first time since 2008, especially if they repeat their New Zealand performance says their number eight.

"It was a great effort by the boys – we left everything on the pitch – but we came up short and it's disappointing to keep saying the same things over again," said Newport Gwent Dragons star Faletau.

"We are still optimistic for South Africa, especially if we play like we did against New Zealand. To be in with a chance of winning the game with 10 minutes left against those guys, we have to take some credit for that.

"We were there or thereabouts until late on and have to take confidence from that.

"We should have won the game against South Africa in the summer but lost because of our discipline. But we are not far off and are confident that the result will go our way soon."

If Wales are to beat the Boks then they need a performance from all 23 players to ensure their standards don't drop in the final quarter. The All Blacks scored 19 points in the last 13 minutes against a home team unable to respond.

"New Zealand got the luck of the bounce (for Beauden Barrett's try) and just went on from there, we couldn't get the momentum back," lamented Faletau.

"The defensive effort was great but New Zealand aren't world champions for nothing and showed their class. We fell off at the end of the game and that's when a team like them takes advantage."