Seven-try Wallabies cruise past Uruguay

The Wallabies proved too strong for Uruguay as they ran out comfortable 45-10 winners in their Rugby World Cup encounter in Oita on Saturday.

Australia were full value for their win as they held the upper hand for long periods and scored seven tries, but their discipline let them down as Adam Coleman and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto were both yellow carded for dangerous tackles.

Dane Haylett-Petty and Tevita Kuridrani crossed for a brace of tries apiece and their other five-pointers were scored by Test debutant Jordan Petaia, Will Genia and James Slipper while Christian Lealiifano succeeded with five conversions.

For Uruguay, Manuel Diana scored a try and Felipe Berchesi added a penalty and a conversion.

Australia had the better of the opening exchanges and after setting up several phases inside Uruguay’s 22, Kurtley Beale joined the line at pace before offloading to Haylett-Petty, who cantered in for the first try.

Despite that score, Los Teros fought back bravely and narrowed the gap in the 13th minute courtesy of a Berchesi penalty, after a high tackle from Michael Hooper on Nicolas Freitas.

A minute later the Wallabies were reduced to 14 men for the first time when Coleman was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Rodrigo Silva.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Wallabies scored the only points during Coleman’s spell on the sidelines courtesy of a try from Petaia, who stepped past two defenders on his way over the whitewash after gathering a pass from Beale deep inside Uruguay’s 22.

On the hour-mark, the Wallabies had another man in the sin bin when Salakaia-Loto was blown up for a high hit on Manuel Ardao but, once again, that did not hamper them too much.  In the 31st minute Beale and Petaia traded passes before the debutant offloaded to Kuridrani, who had an easy run-in over the try-line.

Just before half-time, Uruguay thought they had narrowed the gap when Tomas Inciarte crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed when television replays revealed an indiscretion from Diana at a ruck in the build-up.

Thank you to all of our fans for your support this week.

We have defeated @RugbyUruguay 45-10 in our third #RWC2019 pool match!#AUSvURU #GoldBlooded #TeamRugby pic.twitter.com/bRf8MtB7PU

— Wallabies (@wallabies) October 5, 2019

That meant the Wallabies were leading 19-3 at half-time and shortly after the restart Kuridrani crossed for his second five-pointer after a bullocking run in the build-up from Taniela Tupou, who came on as a replacement at the start of the second half.

Australia were in control during the rest of the half as they dominated most facets of play.  In the 53rd minute a strong run from Jack Dempsey was rounded off by Genia, who burst through a gaping hole in Los Teros’ defence before dotting down.

On the hour-mark, Genia turned provider when he offloaded to Slipper, who barged over from close quarters for his first Test try and Haylett-Petty sealed the win when he crossed for his second try in the 68th minute.

To their credit, Uruguay did not surrender and were rewarded when Diana scored their only try from close range in the game’s dying moments.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Haylett-Petty 2, Petaia, Kuridrani 2, Genia, Slipper
Cons:  Lealiifano 5
Yellow Cards:  Coleman, Salakaia-Loto

For Uruguay:
Try:  Diana
Con:  Berchesi
Pen:  Berchesi

Australia:  15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jordan Petaia, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Adam Ashley-Cooper

Uruguay:  15 Rodrigo Silva, 14 Federico Favaro, 13 Tomas Inciarte, 12 Andres Vilaseca (c), 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Manuel Diana, 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Franco Lamanna, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Juan Echeverria
Replacements:  16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Joaquin Jaunsolo, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Felipe Etcheverry, 23 Agustin Della Corte

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)