 Record defeats , 51 – 0 to France , and 96 – 13 to South Africa , prompted the WRU to appoint New Zealander Graham Henry as coach in 1998 . Henry had early success as coach , leading Wales to a ten @-@ match winning streak ; this included Wales ' first ever victory over South Africa , by 29 – 19 . Henry was consequently nicknamed " the great <unk> " by the Welsh media and fans . <unk> the 1999 World Cup , Wales qualified for the quarter @-@ finals for the first time since 1987 , but lost 9 – 24 to eventual champions Australia . A lack of success in the Five and Six Nations ( Italy joined the tournament in 2000 ) , and especially a number of heavy losses to Ireland , led to Henry 's resignation in February 2002 ; his assistant Steve Hansen took over . 
