WARREN Gatland says that Wales will enter their World Cup group of death with “no fear” after their Six Nations recovery.

Wales recovered from their opening night disappointment against the English to have a real crack at the title, battling to wins against Scotland, France and Ireland before hammering Italy 61-20 in Rome.

Gatland believes the way that his charges have improved with time together bodes well for September when they lock horns with World Cup hosts England, bogey team Australia and tricky customers Fiji.

“I have said about the World Cup and momentum and gaining confidence. We won’t be going into the World Cup with any fears of not qualifying from our group,” said the head coach.

“You know we spend time some together and do some coaching we can improve. There is no fear about playing England at Twickenham or Australia as well because we know we will be in good shape as long as everyone stays fit and clear of injuries.

“We can go there with some real confidence and belief that we can get out of our group.

“You have sides ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the world, so that shows how tough it is to get out of that group, while Fiji with preparation will be tough as well.

“It is unfortunate that you are going to have one of the big teams not making the quarter-finals. That’s what has happened to us and we are confident we can get out of that group and progress to the quarter-finals.”

Wales, frequently accused of being over reliant on brute force, showed great attacking verve to thrash the Azzurri, crossing for seven of their eight tries in the second half.

Gatland said: “There is always a licence, no matter what people try and say, for these players to play what is in front of them and if they feel they can go from their own goalline they have that licence to make those decisions.

“They played with a bit more freedom in the second half and there was some outstanding play with some great offloads which we spoke about during the week. We created some more of those and scored some great tries.”

“The disappointing thing was conceding right at the end and missing a chance. It was probably a 14-point swing in terms of the points difference but at half-time you would have take that scoreline.

“I was proud of the boys and the effort and the way they responded with some great rugby.”