There is a maxim that says "a good big one will always beat a good little one". It is certainly what happened at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney, when the Wallabies beat Wales by 30-10, outscoring them by five tries to one in the process.
Let us give credit where credit is due. The Welsh valiantly tried to stay in touch and even though their execution was poor, they played some really good rugby at times. There is hope for the Six Nations Wooden Spoonists at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
But on the day, Australia were simply too quick, too strong and far too efficient for the Welsh tourists.
Wales created chances, but they often failed to put the last touches to promising moves. The Wallabies, on the other hand, showed that they can create points out of almost nothing.
Wales made all the early play in the match and strung together some very impressive phases. But their execution let them down badly and they wasted a number of chances.
In fact, in the first 15 minutes Australia were forced to make 30 tackles, whereas the Welsh needed to make only 17 tackles -- showing the dominance, in terms of possession, that the tourists enjoyed up till then.
And the first two tries of the match -- both going to Rugby League convert Wendell Sailor -- were totally against the run of play.
In the ninth minute Sailor picked up a loose ball inside his own in-goal area, after the Welsh were hot on the attack and then turned the ball over. Sailor darted passed two very meek attempted tackles and then sprinted the full length of the field to score.
The next try also came from turnover ball, with fullback Chris Latham darting down the right-hand touchline, beating the defence with pure pace. When the cross-cover eventually caught up with him, he put a kick ahead, while Sailor arriving just ahead of captain George Gregan to collect the ball and flop over for his second try.
Fly-half Elton Flatley, who missed both earlier conversions, then landed a penalty in the 17th minute to make it 13-0 in favour of the Wallabies.
The Welsh finally got some reward for their efforts on the quarter mark when fly-half Stephen Jones, who generally had a good game, landed a penalty to narrow the gap to 13-3.
But Latham's pace made the Welsh defenders look very pedestrian when he sprinted over in the left-hand corner in the 24th minute, with a brilliant run rounding off some great Australian phase-play. Flatley missed his third kick (out of four attempts on the night) and the 18-3 margin was the lead the Wallabies took into the break.
Flatley had an early attempt to stretch his team's lead after the break, but his penalty from 25 metres out and almost right in front, bounced off the upright and the Welsh were able to clear their line.
Amazingly, it was the Welsh who opened the scoring in the second half.
It came from a line-out close to the Wallaby line, with the Welsh forwards driving and then setting up a ruck. Some efficient phase-play then sucked in the defenders and the space opened out wide where centre Jamie Robinson went over for Wales's first try.
Jones added the conversion to narrow the gap to 18-10 after 54 minutes.
But the Wallabies hit back almost immediately and it was hooker Jeremy Paul who went over for Australia's fourth try. It came from a line-out, with Toutai Kefu running at the Welsh defence to set up a ruck. Quick ball to Gregan saw him off-load to Paul, who drove over.
Joe Roff took over the goal-kicking, but he too hit the upright as the Wallaby lead moved to 23-10.
The final nail in the Welsh coffin came with just 10 minutes to go, when replacement inside centre Nathan Grey went over after some more efficient Wallaby play. From a scrum the Wallabies went right, where they set up a ruck and Gregan got some quick ball to the backs. When Grey got his hands on the ball he beat some tired tacklers with good stepping and scored the fifth try.
This time Roff slotted the conversion and the score moved to 30-10 -- which was also the final scoreline.
Man of the Match: This is a close call between Wallaby winger Wendell Sailor, who finally showed why he was so highly-rated in league, and Australia's fullback Chris Latham, who often carved up the Welsh defence with his quick bursts on the outside. But we give it to Sailor for his two tries and a much improved all-round work rate.
Moment of the Match: Australia certainly scored some fine tries and even Wales's solitary try was a well-constructed effort, but our vote goes to the opening score of the match -- Wendell Sailor's first try in the ninth minute. Picking up a loose ball inside his own in-goal area, he raced the length of the field the break the Welsh hearts. It showed just how dangerous he can be with ball in hand.
Villain of the Match: No yellow or red cards and nothing serious to report. No candidates.
The Teams:
Australia: 1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Elton Flatley, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Steve Kefu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves: Brendan Cannon, Nathan Grey, Daniel Heenan, Chris Whitaker, Ben Darwin, Daniel Vickerman, Lote Tuqiri
Wales: 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Iestyn Thomas, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Martyn Williams (c), 8 Colin Charvis, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Jamie Robinson, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Tom Shanklin, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves: Mefin Davies, Alix Popham, Chris Wyatt
Unused: Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel, Ceri Sweeney, Ben Evans
Attendance: 63688
Referee: Lawrence m.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Latham C.E. 1, Sailor W.J. 2, Paul J.A. 1, Grey N.P. 1
Conv: Roff J.W.C. 1
Pen K.: Flatley E.J. 1
Wales
Tries: Robinson J. 1
Conv: Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.: Jones S.M. 1
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