Wales suffered another loss at the hands of a southern hemisphere team as they Australia beat them 25-16 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. The home side had the upper hand at times, but were punished by the elusive Wallaby backs.
Three tries from David Pocock, Kurtley Beale, and Ben Alexander were backed up by two penalties and two conversions by youngster James OConnor, while Wales scored a try through Richie Rees with Stephen Jones kicking three penalties.
There was a moment in the game where it looked like Wales were going to fire up for one of their famous late changes. The boot of OConnor punished them though and effectively made the gap too large for the home side, who despite missing a few key players, managed to assert their dominance up front.
“We were missing quality players against one of the best sides in the world. But we were direct, physical and the scrum went well,” said coach Warren Gatland.
“I think we can just be a bit smarter in the way we play sometimes,” said prop Gethin Jenkins. “We’ve really got to work on switching on from any turnovers and getting back in the line. Once we lost the ball, we sort of switched off a bit and they punished us. It’s a team game. You can’t always win in all areas of the game,” he added.
Wales next face South Africa, a team they havent beaten in their last 11 attempts. They will be bolstered by the return of Lee Byrne though and quite possibly Ryan Jones.
Time:
05:52
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