Josh Navidi is set to play in his first World Cup quarter-final against France on Sunday but, in Warren Gatland, he has a head coach who has seen it all before at rugby's biggest tournament.

The New Zealander led Wales to the semi-finals in 2011 and the last eight four years later.

Gatland will leave his post at the end of the World Cup and his players will be tapping into his experience to ensure he leaves on a high.

"It's massive," said Navidi.

"It's that confidence that we know that he's been there before and he can push us through the week and make sure we're ready for that.

"He's been around for a long time, how many Six Nations championships he's had and how far he's gone in the World Cup in the past.

"We want them [the coaching staff] to finish on a high and, how long they've been around, we want them to finish on a positive and give them the send-off they deserve."

When Wales last played a World Cup quarter-final, against South Africa in October 2015, Navidi was in the midst of a four-year absence from the Wales squad.

He made his debut in Japan in June 2013 but had to wait four years and a day before playing his next Test against Tonga in Auckland.

So when it came to Wales' last-eight meeting with the Springboks at Twickenham four years ago, Navidi was recovering from injury with the Cardiff Blues as he watched his club side beaten by Munster in a Pro14 match in Cork.

Fast-forward four years and he is now a prominent member of Wales' back row with 22 caps to his name, a force of nature who carries powerfully, tackles relentlessly and grafts at the breakdown with an apparently insatiable work ethic.

But with Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty, Aaron Wainwright, Aaron Shingler and James Davies providing competition for back-row places in Japan - and Taulupe Faletau and Ellis Jenkins only out of the picture because of injury - Navidi is still reluctant to call himself an established first-team player.

"I always take it game by game and always have done," said the 28-year-old.

"Each week I hope to put in a good performance to keep me in that shirt as I know how quickly things can change. I will grasp it with both hands, take the opportunity."

Wrestling tips from Dad

Gatland is clearly a fan. Even with the back-row riches at his disposal, he has described Navidi as an "integral part of that loose-forward trio".

Among the Cardiff Blues player's many qualities, Gatland notes he "runs hard, tackles hard, does the basics well" and is "good in the contact area".

Whether he is looking to steal opposition ball or protect his own team's possession, Navidi is a weapon at the breakdown.

He is often to be found wrestling opponents to the ground, getting his body low and making himself difficult to shift out of the way.

For those wrestling skills, he has his father Hedy to thank.

Hedy moved from Iran to Wales to study civil engineering and it was in Bangor where he met his wife Euros, who is from Anglesey.

The couple moved to Bridgend, where Josh was raised as a child and taught how to wrestle by his father, who was a freestyle wrestler of a high enough quality to have competed at the British Open.

Hedy and Euros have travelled to Japan to watch their son play at the World Cup, and Josh is hoping to put those wrestling skills to good use in the knockout stages.

"I hope so, all the years with him, messing about, nothing too serious," he said.

"It is nice to have them out here.

"I am sure he will say something just before the game. It is nice for them to get out and enjoy it, because they don't get away that much - my dad is quite stubborn, with flying and travelling!

"It is nice for them to experience it, because my dad is quite a big sportsman, he is enjoying it."