The Wallabies have had a tendency in recent years to struggle against Wales. A success rate of only 50% against the 9th ranked team in the world is without a doubt a bit of an embarrassment for the Aussies.
Stephen Moore suffered a back spasm in the warm-up and was forced to withdraw and this must have had a negative impact on the Wallaby scrum. The Wallaby scrum was dusted again after a dismissal performance in Hong Kong- and given England’s outstanding scrum performance against the All Blacks, the Wallaby medical team must be clocking overtime hours at the moment.
Aussie got the win but just didn’t look good –in most positions- for much of the game. Individual performances would be hard to get worse. The wallabies began badly and were saved quite a few times in the first 20 minutes by some outstanding individual efforts. The Wallabies conceded two turn-over’s, three penalties -two from scrums- a knock-on, a forward pass, a crooked throw and kicked with a 3 on 1 overlap in the first 20 minutes of the match!
Greg Martin said on air that the Wallabies had a horror training session late Thursday, which could explain the lack-lustre display. It was the youngsters, yet again, who pulled the Wallabies through; Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor and Quade Coope showed a continued willingness to chance their arm, with great vision and incredible footwork.
Also impressive were the Wallabies’ –despite having a bad day at the office- ability to knit together extended periods of play with patience and eagerness with ball in hand. The first such period brought David Pocock’s try in the sixth minute. They strung in phase after phase and most impressive again was how they create space in the back as well as their structure, precision and speed when they recycle the ball. They were almost irresistible and the try inevitable.
A flash of genius from James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale – and some dreadful defence from Shane Williams – gave Beale the second try. Some quality ‘phase play which exploited the full width of the field, first to the left wing and then back again to the right wing, lead to Ben Alexander getting the third Wallaby try.
Beale went over twice more for tries but both were denied; a penalty and a lost ball over the line. The second was a incredible effort involving both a high ball and re-gather, then a grubber and re-gather. His efforts deserved the try.
At the end, it was three good tries to one for a score-line of 16-25. The Wallabies in the final analysis always looked the more likely to win.
En die sangbeker behoort weereens aan Wallis.