WALES won’t be getting fitted for new suits or releasing a novelty record for Saturday’s autumn series showdown with South Africa but they will definitely be treating it like a cup final.

That was the repeated message from Shaun Edwards today, as the national team’s defensive guru backed under-fire interim head coach Rob Howley ahead of the Springboks clash.

Wales go into their final match of the month on the back of successive wins against Argentina and Japan, and only once before, in 2002, have they won three fixtures in an autumn series.

Back then it was Romania, Fiji and Canada who Wales got the better of, so if they were to make it a hat-trick of victories this weekend then 2016 would surely go down as their best ever autumn.

Performances, however, have not made it a vintage year for Howley’s men, and the former scrum-half, in the hotseat while Warren Gatland is on Lions duty, has come in for a lot of criticism.

But a win on Saturday, according to Edwards, would represent a successful series.

“We’re approaching this week as a cup final,” he said. “The success or relative failure of this series will depend on whether we win or not on Saturday.

“We’re going into a cup final this week against a team who are ranked higher than us and they’ve got what we want, which is that fourth-ranked position.”

He added: “We are going to play some winning rugby – it’s all about the Ws.

“We are playing against a team ranked higher than us and it’s a cup final fixture you would want to finish the series.

“If we win it will be a successful series, the most successful Wales have ever had with three out of four. If we don’t it will be a relative failure.

“They are ranked higher than us, we’re sixth at the moment, they’re fourth, and we’ve been open about it, that’s the position we want.

“We want a top-four spot before the (World Cup) draw, which is after the Six Nations.

“It’s a cup final week, we feel under pressure, of course, but not any more than you would normally be against a top-four team.”

He continued: “We just have to be more accurate in this final game.

“It’s a cup final for us, we’re playing South Africa, and it’s a must-win game.”

As for Howley, he said: “When you’re in this job, when you’re a national coach, it’s important that you block everything out of your mind and continue doing what you’re trying to do.

“Rob Howley is a very, very good head coach with his attentional to detail and the way he monitors the players.”

Edwards revealed that lock Bradley Davies had returned to the Ospreys due to a knee injury, but Gethin Jenkins, Taulupe Faletau and Ken Owens were all in contention for selection.