Wales v New Zealand: Charteris & Cuthbert believe Wales can win

Luke Charteris and Alex Cuthbert tackle New Zealand's Julian Savea in November, 2012

Wales pair Luke Charteris and Alex Cuthbert believe they can beat New Zealand on Saturday, despite struggling to overcome Fiji.

The Welsh led 17-6 at the break on Saturday before a late converted try caused a nervy climax in Cardiff.

"One thing we will be working on this week is retaining the ball. If we do that, then we are capable of beating New Zealand," said lock Charteris.

Cuthbert also feels Wales can rise to the level needed against New Zealand.

Luke Charteris made his Wales debut against South Africa in 2004

"We know if we put in a performance like we have against the top teams, we'll be there or thereabouts," said Cuthbert, who scored Wales' second try against Fiji.

The Cardiff Blues and British and Irish Lions wing says "silly errors" in areas in which Wales are "usually sharp" made for an uncomfortable Test against the Pacific Islanders.

He added: "There's no excuses - we're professional players and I think the turnover rate was a lot higher than usual and it just kept letting them into the game.

"We were always on the front foot and looking to score and we just couldn't get over that line."

Lock Charteris, who returned to the starting line-up against Fiji, was similarly frustrated.

"We had a good rolling maul a few times and got one penalty try from it, but we thought we should have had a bit more," said the Racing Metro and former Newport Gwent Dragons player.

"Sometimes you get the directive from one referee and it changes the next week. We have to adapt to that, and maybe we were a bit slow in doing that.

"It was just accuracy, and against New Zealand we know if we turn the ball over they will score."

Wales will assess the fitness of Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny on Monday ahead of Saturday's Test.

The trio did not feature against Fiji after suffering injuries in the defeat by Australia.