The best was saved until the last. A rousing contest may have lacked the raw-boned passion of Dublin last Sunday but it combined physical intensity and sublime skill, Quade Cooper assuming the lead role in a heady mix of beauty and brutality that makes rugby union at its best such a compelling spectacle.
Australia were unrecognisable from the side that was pummelled and powderised by the Lions in the third Test in Sydney last June. Wales, who fielded seven of the tourists’ starters that evening, talked in the week about giving the Wallabies another battering, but their words were no more than fish and chip paper. They made thunderous tackles but none jolted bones more than the ones they were on the end of and they were surprised by the vigour of the visitors’ counter-rucking.
It became a contest decided by skill and Australia were sharper, more astute and slicker. Cooper, who would probably not have been winning his 50th cap had the Wallabies won the series against the Lions and continued with Robbie Deans as head coach, teased and tormented, drawing in defenders before releasing the ball, often by unconventional means. His inside centre Christian Leali’ifano was not averse to the reverse pass either and it was more a case of bits of defence than blitz as green and gold jerseys made their way down unguarded wide channels.
Wales were, as ever, game and obdurate, but at times they were also dumb. A reason they have lost their last 18 fixtures against the three major southern hemisphere nations, including nine against the Wallabies, who in that time have been regarded as the weakest of the trio, is that their decision-making too often shows them up at key moments.
And so it was here. There was little more than a minute remaining when the replacement wing Liam Williams received the ball on his own 22. Wales, trailing by four points, needed to keep the ball in hand, as the All Blacks had done against Ireland six days before when they needed to score a try to win the game in the closing seconds and took play through 12 phases before duly doing so.
Wales had a man advantage with Cooper in the sin-bin for thwarting a Wales attack with an early tackle on Scott Williams but Williams not only kicked the ball downfield he sent it into the arms of Israel Folau, the full-back who had tested the home defence all evening. Australia retained the ball until there were 18 seconds to go when the referee Wayne Barnes, as referees do these days, halted a succession of drives designed to wind down the game and awarded Wales a penalty but Rhys Priestland’s chip for Alex Cuthbert was too close to the touchline and the men in red were left, again, to kick themselves.
They made excuses afterwards, lamenting that Australia’s third try, scored by the wing Joe Tomane, should not have been allowed because of a forward pass by Folau. Warren Gatland questioned whether Barnes would have made the same decision had New Zealand been the opponents, a remark that, unworthy of the head coach, showed how shattering the defeat was for Wales who, for all their comeback in the final quarter, had been outplayed for the first hour by opponents they feel they should be beating.
It could not have started better for Wales. As Folau weaved out of tackles in the first minute, he worked himself into a position where he needed to make one pass for a try to be scored, and so it proved. Instead of Tomane receiving the ball, it went to ground, Alun Wyn Jones pounced on it and it was soon in the hands of George North on the left wing.
His rolling kick into the Australia 22 should have been gathered by Adam Ashley-Cooper but the centre was put off by the low bounce and tried to fly-kick the ball into touch. He succeeded only in increasing its speed towards his own line where North picked up and scored.
Halfpenny’s conversion and subsequent penalty gave Wales a 10-point advantage. Shades of Dublin where Ireland were 19 up in as many minutes, but Australia were having more of the play, forcing turnovers and nicking Wales’s lineout while losing some of their own, but Will Genia knocked on with the line in front of him after a Cooper reverse pass to Tomane took out three defenders.
Leali’ifano and Halfpenny exchanged penalties before the Wales full-back hit the post with another and handed over the responsibility because of damaged ribs. Another Cooper pass out of the back of his hands set up Leali’ifano for Australia’s first try and they went into the interval 17-16 ahead when, after Dan Biggar had been sent to the sin-bin for killing the ball on his own line, Folau charged through Mike Phillips on his way to his 10th try of the year, equalling Lote Tuqiri’s Australian record.
Biggar had just returned, following Leali’ifano’s second penalty, when Tomane’s try, after the first scrum of the game, put his side 11 points ahead, a tally Leali’ifano soon increased by three. Wales may lack a clear head at times, but never heart. North’s second try re-energised the crowd and Priestland’s penalty left them six minutes to fashion the winning try. It never threatened to come, and while Wales talked afterwards about a largely positive month and how they wanted to become the first team to win the Six Nations three years in a row, they were hurting. It is one thing to outmuscle the best in Europe, but another to outsmart the cream of the south.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24456254
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Wales fail to end Australia hoodoo despite George North double
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