QANTAS WALLABIES DEFEAT WALES IN CARDIFF
A two try effort by Australian fullback Israel Folau has helped the Wallabies to a 33-28 victory over Wales in Cardiff on Sunday morning Australian Eastern time.
The victory means Australia has won ten consecutive Test matches against Wales and gained a mental edge over the side a year out from the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Australia will play Wales in Pool A of the tournament.
THE MATCH
The Welsh caught the Wallabies defence off guard early when scrumhalf Rhys Webb darted through the Australian defence to score the first try and gain a 7-0 early lead.
The Qantas Wallabies began to work their way into the match as they gained confidence through controlling the set piece and making metres through Australia’s forwards.
The territorial advantage Australia had earned eventually led to points with Captain Michael Hooper offloading to Israel Folau to draw the match level at 7-7.
Wales began to find continuity with their attack and being in the Australian defensive zone were creating headaches for the men in gold in defence.
A brilliant individual effort from Israel Folau turned defence into attack as he rushed off his line to score an intercept try to take the score to 7-14 in favour of Australia.
The consistent momentum swing of the match continued with Wales scoring their second try in the 25th minute with Alex Cuthbert doing the damage for Wales.
Australia’s outside centre, Tevita Kuridrani continued his excellent run of form as he powered his way through two Welsh defenders to score right underneath the posts.
The successful conversion took the score 14-21 in favour of Australia.
Wales continued to put pressure on the Qantas Wallabies in defence. Camped in front of the Wallabies try line, Wales had an excellent opportunity to strike back with a third try, but an intercept from Bernard Foley allowed Australia to clear the danger.
With the clock counting down to halftime Wales again attacked the Wallabies line.
Despite the best efforts of Australia, Wales crossed for a try through Alun Wyn Jones, levelling the scores at 21-21 and setting up a thriller second half.
Australia started the second half well and was rewarded for coming out of the blocks firing with Wales forced to infringe at the breakdown to slow down Australia.
Bernard Foley converted the first penalty of the match giving Australia the advantage, 21-24.
The Wallabies defence was continuously to be tested as Australia struggled for possession and territory with a desperate Welsh outfit throwing everything at the men in gold.
The Wallabies built pressure on Wales with some consistent phases that saw the Wallabies advance over the advantage line.
The Welsh defence, although strong, eventually gave away a second penalty to Australia which flyhalf Bernard Foley successfully converted from 45 metres out taking the score to 21-27.
An intense scrum battle emerged in the 60th minute as Wales looked to press home an advantage.
After several scrums Referee Joubert awarded a penalty try to Wales taking the score to 28-27 in favour of the home nation.
The Wallabies attacked in Wales defensive zone for 20 phases, creating the opportunity for Bernard Foley to sit in the pocket and successfully convert a drop goal to give Australia the lead (28-30) with less than 10 minutes to go.
Australia lost possession of the ball with 30 seconds to go in the Test match, creating for a final opportunity for Wales to have the final say in the match.
Despite a daring run by centre, George North, Wales were unable to breach the Wallabies line meaning that Australia were victorious 28-33.
Australia will next play Wales in Pool A of the 2015 Rugby World Cup with a significant physiological advantage over their opposition.
Australia’s next match on the Spring Tour will be to keep with the unbeaten record of 2014 against France going with a fourth straight victory.
Australia 33 (Israel Folau 2, Tevita Kuridrani tries; Bernard Foley 3 cons; Bernard Foley 2 pens; Bernard Foley drop goal) defeated Wales 28 (Rhys Webb, Alex Cuthbert, Alun Wyn, penalty try tries; Leigh Halfpenny 2, Daniel Biggar cons; pens;)
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