Wayne Pivac believes a clash against Ireland in Dublin is exactly what Wales need after ending their Guinness Six Nations campaign with a whimper.
Wales will begin Autumn Nations Cup business at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, less than a fortnight after suffering a first home loss to Scotland for 18 years.
Pivac's team arrive in Ireland on a five-match run of defeats - their longest losing sequence since 2016 - while defence coach Byron Hayward departed his post earlier this week.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
"What we needed after Scotland was another opponent put in front of us reasonably quickly," Wales head coach Pivac said.
"We would have taken anyone to be quite honest, but this is going to be a good game for us because the Irish are a good side.
"We know what's coming and we have to be up for it defensively, and both mentally and physically.
"We have to have that desire to go out and perform. It will certainly be a great test."
It is eight years since Wales lost more than five games on the bounce, while Pivac has only tasted victory twice - against Italy and the Barbarians - since succeeding Warren Gatland 12 months ago.
"We are always talking as a coaching group about how we can improve and where we can go," Pivac added.
"From our point of view, it's about staying focused and ticking the boxes we need to tick. If we do that and keep working hard, we believe we can turn this around.
"For us, it's a collective effort. It's not about putting the players out there and putting it all on them.
"Our job is to prepare the players as best as we can to go to battle and get a result.
"It's not about us and them (players and coaches). We are in this together, and are working hard to get the results we so desperately want."
Despite a dire display against Scotland, Pivac has made only one change, but it is a notable one as 77 times-capped flanker Justin Tipuric returns after recovering from tonsillitis.
Tipuric watched the Scotland game from his sick-bed, and he said: "There was a lot of frustration after that match because everyone knows we can play a lot better than that.
"No-one likes losing a game of rugby. You are not there to play the game to lose, and we want to start getting Wales back to winning ways.
"You can start over-thinking stuff in rugby. When you do the basics well, the little things right, it ends up adding up and you get the win, which is the most important thing.
"If you start over-thinking things, that's when you get into trouble.
"It has been a good training week, high-quality. One or two of the days have felt like you have been in a game this week because they have been quite tough and hard-going."
