Roger Lewis is close to securing Warren Gatland's ideal Test schedule © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Warren Gatland

Teams: Wales

Following an encouraging autumn campaign that saw Wales register the only northern hemisphere win over a Tri Nations side, Warren Gatland's men are close to getting their wish for more meetings with the southern hemisphere powers.

With South Africa, New Zealand and Australia all packing down at the Millennium Stadium over the past month, Wales coach Warren Gatland has outlined a greater number of Tests against top opposition as the best way forward for his emerging side.

Next autumn will see New Zealand and Australia return, while Argentina and Samoa will also make their presence felt in Cardiff. 2010 will see the return of all three Tri Nations sides, and Gatland will be keen for Wales to build on their learning experiences of the past month.

WRU Chief Executive Roger Lewis told the Western Mail, "Warren told me he wanted to be playing against the best teams in the world and that is what I have gone out and secured. This is fantastic news for Welsh rugby.

"I have negotiated a deal in principle where the All Blacks will come back to Cardiff next year dependent on agreement from the IRB and us reaching agreement with our regions," he said.

In 2009 the proposed November 7 fixture against the All Blacks will fall outside of the IRB's designated Test window, just as last weekend's 21-18 win over the Wallabies did, raising problems of player release again for the WRU and the Welsh regions.

While the regions received compensation for releasing their players to the squad for the Wallabies clash, a more concrete agreement will need to be finalised should this be a recurring issue, as it will be in 2010 when the visit of Australia will be outside of the Test window.

"I have gone out and done what is right for Welsh rugby," Lewis said. "It's been great to have all three Tri-Nations teams in Cardiff this autumn and we will do it all again in 2010 as a result of a deal I did just last Friday.

"It will be fantastic for Wales to be playing these southern hemisphere sides just a year ahead of the World Cup. This is just the kind of preparation Warren wants."

With Wales set to test themselves against the game's leading lights far more regularly, their emergence as a competitive unit on the World stage looks primed to continue, should the disputes and infighting that threatened this autumn series be resolved to allow the national side and the regional setup to continue to develop.

"This week marks Warren Gatland's first anniversary in the job and if you look at where we were this time last year, we have come a very long way and achieved a great amount," Lewis said. "We've had the Grand Slam and an awesome autumn, culminating in a tremendous victory over Australia, to crown a spectacular year."