Duncan Jones is treated on the pitch. (Getty Images)

By Alex Lowe, PA Sport, Canberra

Colin Charvis admitted he drew strength from comments made by former boss Graham Henry that he ought to be dropped for Wales' crucial victory over Italy.

Henry, who coached Charvis with Wales and the 2001 British Lions, had questioned whether the 30-year-old was the best candidate for either the number eight or captaincy roles.

As it was, Charvis retained his place in the side, retained the captaincy and led Wales into the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

"There is a lot of history between Graham and me, and I am sure everything he says is with a pinch of salt. I know how the guy works," said Charvis after Wales' 27-15 victory.

"It is not so much motivational, but if the guy is right, the guy is right - maybe it was important for me to play better today than I have in the past."

Charvis played a crucial role in combating the Italian back row and formed part of Wales' impenetrable defensive wall that so impressively held the Azzurri at bay.

As Italy, drawing on reserves of courage and commitment for the biggest game in their history, dominated territory and possession in the first half, Wales ensured were never rewarded with anything more than a penalty.

Charvis' men made an astonishing 174 tackles, missing only 16, to sap the strength of an Italian team playing its second game in four days and fourth in 14.

"Our tackle count was very high and the Italians threw everything at us," said Charvis.

"It was a very difficult time for us, but the fortitude the guys showed is testament to the amount of work we have been doing with Clive Griffiths on our defence.

"We knew they were going to try and take us on up front. Everyone knows the Italians pride themselves on a very aggressive style of running.

"It was imperative for us to hold our line and keep their breaks to a minimum. We managed that.

"It was apparent they had played a midweek game and the wind did go out of their sails towards the end.

"They loaded the bench with forwards in an attempt to break us there and the guys deserve pats on the back, we have done a lot of work with Clive and for the first time in a while it seemed to hold pretty strong."

Wales survived the onslaught and secured their place in the last eight of the World Cup with tries from Mark Jones, Sonny Parker and Dafydd Jones plus 12 points from the boot of the increasingly impressive Iestyn Harris.

Coach Steve Hansen was delighted with the commitment his men showed and believes that, after Wales' fifth consecutive victory, things are beginning to fall into place for his side.

"At times I didn't think it was very composed and I was not very composed in the coach's box," he said.

"The good thing was they trusted themselves and that is something we have been building on and building on and it's starting to happen.

"When they were put under pressure by the Italians they coped with it and they came back and applied their own pressure. By and large they took most of the opportunities that were there and scored.

"There has never been any doubt of their commitment to each other and to the jersey and that (tackle statistic) just reinforces it."

The doom-mongers had written off Wales' chances of victory, heaping pressure on Hansen and intimating his job hung by the result.

The New Zealander, however, insisted he had not felt any pressure at all and said it did not even rank as one of his more stressful weeks at the helm.

"There was everything to play for and when it's like that you don't have to do too much as a coach, just steer the ship in the right direction and press the right buttons at the right time," he said

"It's when things are expected to go well that it's tougher."

Little will be expected of Wales against New Zealand next week, but Hansen is anxious his men continue to develop and is looking forward to measuring their progress against the All Blacks.

Wales lost to them in June and last November, but he feels Welsh rugby has come a long way since.

"We have got to enjoy this moment for what it is and look forward to playing New Zealand and measure ourselves against one of the best sides in the world.

"We will have to play as well as we can to compete. I don't think too many people would give us too big a chance of winning the tournament. That doesn't mean we are gong to pack our bags and stop playing.

"We are going to keep growing as a group and challenge ourselves to challenge every opponent we play and make our country proud."