Wales end a difficult month on a massive high
Much-maligned Wales dug deep into their reserves -- both physically and metaphorically -- and produced a stunning rear-guard 24-22 victory over Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
It was a cracking game, the most open of the November Tests so far, and it culminated in an absorbing and triumphant finale. For there was plenty riding on the outcome of this match, and the final result -- and the manner of defeat -- may well toll the bell for Eddie Jones and George Gregan.
Wales ran and spun and passed as Mike Ruddock's team does like no other, and the bigger and brasher Australians stretched the Welsh resolve to the limit with an enthralling never-say-die spirit.
Shane Williams was back to his inimitable best -- at one point he made Drew Mitchell look simply ridiculous with a jink -- and Australia's effort was carried for the large part on the strength and endurance of old heads Chris Latham and Lote Tuqiri
But Wales held on, and the result will give them a significant mental buck ahead of their next match: the trip down the M4 to Twickenham in the Six Nations.
The first half was a lesson to all watching in maximising the use of possession. Australia had only 40 per cent of the ball in the first forty minutes, yet scored one superb try and could have had at least two others.
Wales, by contrast, frittered away their 60 per cent share with some unimaginative wide passes and pedestrian midfield charges into the Australian line. It was very pretty, but, two occasions excepted, it was very ineffective. Wales won the possession 60-40 but lost the half 6-7 on points.
Conversely, Wales lost the second-half possession 44-56 but won it 18-15 on points. It's not what you have, it's how you use it, and Wales seem much better when feeding off stolen possession than when they actually create their own platform.
The first half was also a lesson in set piece play; out of the sixteen line-outs (eight apiece) and six scrums (three apiece), only one was fluffed by team with the ball. There were no turnovers by either team, and the only statistical imbalance was the seven penalties conceded by Australia to Wales' five.
The game loosened up in the second half as the teams tired and the foragers were given more time, and it was three turnovers that led to Australia's downfall, along with the crumbling of their scrum and their game discipline.
The first ten minutes of the match belonged solely to Wales -- they had a staggering 90 per cent of the territory in that time -- yet they emerged from the period of dominance only 3-0 ahead, courtesy of Stephen Jones, and then fell prey to a superb try.
Mat Rogers was the architect, looping round Morgan Turinui to take a return pass and then straightening at speed to break the Welsh backs.
Gareth Thomas had him marked, but Tuqiri was on the inside shoulder to take the scoring pass, which 74,000 voices called forward. The one voice that counted didn't, and Tuqiri went in under the posts after thirteen minutes.
The try heralded a brief spell of Australian dominance. George Smith broke from the restart, and then another sweeping back move sent Mitchell away, but Dafydd James covered with a superb tackle.
James rescued his team again three minutes later with a ball-and-all try-saving tackle on Phil Waugh which prevented him off-loading to Mitchell, and three minutes after that he smashed Mitchell when chasing an up and under, which led to Wales' most promising move of the half.
From Chris Horsman's recovery of the spilled ball, Martyn Williams broke the line, and had his pass struck Jones' hand and not the forearm, the fly-half would have been home.
Thomas escaped the potential consequences of a silly knock-on on his own 22, and the Welsh built up a real head of steam, taking the ball up to the Australian line through fifteen phases of possession. Horsman stood on the back of the ruck poised for the final burst, and then dropped the ball.
The rest of the first half meandered a little after that, but the first warning signs of fatigue in the Australian scrum were shown when David Fitter brought a scrum down two minutes before the break. Stephen Jones landed the penalty to make it 6-7.
Australia stole what ought to have been a significant advantage immediately from the start of the second half. Thomas, who did not have a game to remember, hesitated on a kick to the corner by Latham, long enough for the chasing Tuqiri and Mitchell to close down Williams.
Williams was caught, the ball was turned over, and after half-breaks from Latham and Tuqiri, Nathan Sharpe made the final few hard yards for the try. Rogers converted for a 6-14 lead.
Wales stormed back though, first through Williams, who was just bundled into touch by Latham, and then poaching a line-out five metres form the Australian line. The ensuing scrums yielded three penalties as Fitter and Dunning buckled, and the last penalty was signalled under the posts for a seven-pointer.
Wales were back in the game, and then took the lead with a simply magnificent try. Colin Charvis turned over Australian ball on his own 22, and the Welsh ran the ball wide to Shane Williams, who showed signs all match of returning to form. Williams grubbered ahead, Thomas did brilliantly to gather and keep the ball available under Turinui's tackling arms, and Williams left Tuqiri for dead on his way to the line. Jones failed to land the conversion, but Wales were good value for the 18-14 lead.
The try was closely succeeded by the exit of George Gregan, who was not even on the pitch for sixty minutes this time. Chris Whitaker came on and added some much-needed zip to the distribution, and neither result nor performance will have done much to offset the pressure currently on Australia's record-breaking captain.
Jones extended the lead two minutes after the Williams try for a 21-14 scoreline, and the penalty count for the second half as the hour mark in the match passed was 4-0 to Wales.
Finally, the Wallabies got a penalty for Rogers to land and bring the Wallabies back to within four, but Jones extended the lead again two minutes later. 24-17 with 15 minutes to go.
Twice Lote Tuqiri -- by some distance the pick of the Australian players -- broke as Australia upped the pace. Once he was shackled by the heroics of James, and once his pass to the overlapping Gerrard was handed to the floor by the retreating Watkins.
Finally a Tuqiri break told, with the converted centre once again going through the revolving door offered to him by Sonny Parker, before delivering a sweet grubber for Latham to run onto ten minutes before the end. Rogers' conversion was pulled wide though and 24-22 the score remained.
The final ten minutes were a fitting climax to a superb game. Wales were magnificently disciplined under pressure, and the Wallabies earnest in their endeavour. But twice the Welsh stole ball in the final two minutes, once through Robert Sidoli, who looked up, saw 70m of open turf in front of him, baulked at the idea and opted to kick the ball clumsily to touch.
Then in the final minute, Charvis put the seal on his fantastic display by stealing ball immaculately and giving it to Williams to kick it out triumphantly and end the game -- a fitting end for the nippy little winger, whose try, side-steps and running signified the return of the Welsh wizard to his magical best.
Man of the match: Shane Williams gets a mention for his running game, Dafydd James for some sterling defence, and Lote Tuqiri for a brilliant all-round display of running and tackling. But Colin Charvis was the key to the turnovers upon which the Welsh second-half revival was based. A great performance from an old head to inspire his team to victory.
Moment of the match: Shane Williams' jink around Drew Mitchell. Genius. Williams' try was a joy to behold, but for an individual moment at the highest level, there has been no better this November.
Villain of the match: Impossible to find one, the match was a credit to both teams and the referee.
The scorers:
For Wales
Tries: S Williams, Penalty Try
Con: S Jones
Pens: S Jones 5
For Australia:
Tries: Tuqiri, Sharpe, Latham
Cons: Rogers 2
Pen: Rogers
The teams:
Wales: 15 Gareth Thomas (c), 14 Dafydd James, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Lee Byrne.
Australia: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Morgan Turinui, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Mat Rogers, 9 George Gregan (c), 8 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Hugh McMeniman, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Scott Fava, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Lloyd Johansson, 22 Wendell Sailor.
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
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