Gatland looks to earn respect

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The Welsh face South Africa in Bloemfontein on Saturday in the first of two Tests that matches this year's Grand Slam winners against the reigning world champions.

"It's important to see how much progress we need to make over the next couple of years," he said. "We want to earn some respect from the South African players and public. That's very important for us."

He added: "For me the gauge of a successful tour will be if we've left here with some respect. We want to play well and put South Africa under a lot of pressure.

"We've done well in the Six Nations but that's just a stepping stone to us getting better as a side."

Wales are scheduled for a rest day on Wednesday and will crank up their analysis of the Springboks on Thursday as they look for possible chinks in the armour.

Gatland has welcomed the appointment of English official Dave Pearson as referee and claims Wales' chances of success might be improved by the rules being used.

The Super 14 season, which finished last weekend, has been played under the new Experimental Law Variations but they have been abandoned for both Tests.

"Thursday and Friday we'll really start concentrating on South Africa, looking at their strengths and weaknesses," he said. "There may be one or two opportunities for us there.

"But from our point of view it's more important to have a referee who we're more familiar with in Dave Pearson. Maybe it will give us a slight advantage that the South African players haven been operating under the ELVs while we have been using the older rules."