Australia edged Wales 33-28 in another tight encounter between the two sides, but it was the tenth successive time the Wallabies came up trumps. The home side started well and the first half was even, but Australia held their nerve late in the game.
The result extended Wales’ losing streak against the big southern hemisphere sides to twenty one, even though this wasn’t the first time that the scores were close. It was the ninth successive time that the winning margin was in the single digits.
In the first half both sides scored three converted tries, taking them into the break at 21-21.
The second half was less eventful as Wales’ picked up a converted penalty try, while Australia’s Bernard Foley kicked three penalties and a well taken drop goal for a personal tally of 18 points.
Despite Wales losing 25 of their last 26 matches against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, coach Warren Gatland remained upbeat.
“We’ve scored four tries to three and I thought we went out there and played some really positive rugby,” he said. “To be honest I’m pretty positive about the performance.
Wales play Fiji next, then New Zealand and South Africa. Australia travel to Paris to take on France, followed by Tests against England and Ireland in the following weeks.
“There’s plenty to improve on, we’re not claiming that we had a cracker,” said new Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, who joined the squad just days before flying to the UK.
“We’ve had just two weeks of getting our heads together and playing a new system, the guys getting into that, defensively as well, not just attack. What we’re hoping is that on this trip we can build that while at the same time playing good enough rugby to grab a win here and there.”
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View the Welsh camps reaction to the loss below. View official highlights from the match here (UK only), and on page two, short highlights from the WRU (no commentary).
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