Wales 41 Canada 10

Wales got their Rugby World Cup campaign under way by recording an emphatic 41-10 win over Canada in Melbourne with the outstanding Iestyn Harris contributing 16 points.

But whilst the margin of victory probably reflects Canada's deficiencies rather than Wales abilities, there were plenty of encouraging signs for Welsh fans.

Harris played the game of his international life, recording a 100 percent kicking ratio and setting up some fine runs for himself and his team-mates.

It was Canada's fly-half Bob Ross who opened the scoring after only three minutes with a sweetly struck drop-goal after some good pressure, but Wales soon woke up to the task at hand and their thirst was personified by skipper Colin Charvis who starred in some bruising early runs.

But his enthusiasm boiled over when a "stray" arm caught Ross in the face as he attempted to clear his lines and Charvis found himself in the sin bin.

Facing 14 men, Canada turned up the gas and Sweeney began to find life quite claustrophobic with Canada's back row rolling back the years.

Their energy, however, was soon sapped by a rampant Wales pack which sent Harris on a 40-metre break that began a fluid passage that saw the ball swung all the way right before returning quickly to the left leaving the Canadians short of defenders out wide.

Centre Sonny Parker popped up outside his wing to receive the pass and squeeze into the corner and Harris added a well-taken conversion from the touchline.

With the return of Charvis, Wales began to believe in their ability with ball in hand, and some fine pressure pinned Canada back in their 22.  Canada soon cracked and went off-side, giving Harris an easy penalty chance that he did not miss.

More pressure led to another Canadian infringement and Harris stepped up to extend Wales' advantage.

Immediately after the re-start Harris received a pass and burst through a gap in the Canuck midfield to send Sweeney on a run at the Canadian posts but he was brought down five metres short and the move broke down.

But soon enough quick hands took the ball down the short-side and Gareth Cooper skipped over from close-range.  Harris added the conversion just before the break.

Wales came out for the second with every intention of continuing where they left off and a brittle Canuck defence allowed them do just that.

But as the Welsh settled into task of shepherding the game to its inevitable conclusion the Canucks began to assert themselves on the set-piece play -- but other areas of their game were below the necessary standard.

As the phases mounted, the Canucks became disorganised with players in running positions receiving balls whilst stationary.

In comparison Wales' movement looked sharp and Steve Hansen's hard work over the summer seems to have paid off, but not for the first time in this tournament the gulf in preparation and conditioning between the two sets of players was painfully obvious.

A notable exception to this rule was the young Canadian No.8 Josh Jackson, who impressed with some athletic line-out work and tireless support work.

The game soon calmed into a series of rolling mauls that didn't really seem to service any purpose save to allow the players to catch their breaths.

But that man Harris hadn't given up and after spotting an opportunity on the short side he ushered Parker into the gap with a well-timed pass.  The NZ-born centre burst through and fed a pass to winger Mark Jones who had an easy run-in.  Harris added the conversion.

The beautifully worked try lifted the game's tempo and it was soon followed by a try from Charvis, who swivelled of the back of a maul to drop over the line.

With the bonus point secured, Wales brought on a raft of subs and the game's momentum died in the water.

To the Canadians' credit they never gave up and opted to run all their penalties in the second half.

The pressure put Wales on the back-foot and Parker was soon sin-binned for coming in at the side.

Canada again choose to run the penalty and replacement prop Kevin Tkachuk went over from the back of a ruck to add to his impressive scoring record.

Canada's resurgence provoked the Welsh to batten down the hatches and they poured water on Canadian fire by pinning them back with a series of touch-finders.

The coup de grace was delivered by veteran wing Gareth Thomas who was fed the ball out wide and came in off his right foot to skip past two flaying tackles to touch down.  Harris converted to the sound of the referee final whistle.

Man of the match:  No contest -- Iestyn Harris' kicking was impeccable and his vision (see below) was key to Wales' victory.  He finally lived up to his huge potential and now looks like he has secured his spot in the Wales team at inside centre.

Moment of the match:  The game was shaken from a sleepy period by Mark Jones' try which saw Harris pick out a flying and unmarked Sonny Parker on the short side.  The centre burst through the gainline and committed flat-footed Canuck fullback James Pritchard before feeding Mark Jones who sauntered in under the posts.

Villain of the match:  Colin Charvis.  Yes, intimidate the opposition's fly-half by all means.  But don't give him a slap in the chops with the whole world looking on.  Teams need their captains to stay on the pitch.

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Duncan Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Sonny Parker, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Dwayne Peel, Robert Sidoli, Mark Taylor
Unused:  Rhys Williams, Jonathan Thomas

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Mark Lawson, 3 John Thiel, 4 Mike James, 5 Colin Yukes, 6 Alan Charron (c), 7 Adam Van Staveren, 8 Josh Jackson, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Dave Lougheed, 12 Marco Di Girolomo, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 James Pritchard
Reserves:  Garth Cooke, Jamie Cudmore, Kevin Tkachuk, Ryan Smith
Unused:  Aaron Abrams, Ryan Banks, Ed Fairhurst

Attendance:  24874
Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Jones M.A. 1, Parker S. 1, Thomas G. 1, Cooper G.J. 1, Charvis C.L. 1
Conv:  Harris I.R. 5
Pen K.:  Harris I.R. 2

Canada
Tries:  Tkachuk K. 1
Conv:  Pritchard J. 1
Drop G.:  Ross R.P. 1