Lose at the death: Wales
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A last-minute try from Kurtley Beale denied Wales victory over old foes Australia as the Gold run continued with a 14-12 result on Saturday.
The loss meant that Wales, the current Grand Slam champions and World Cup semi-finalists, fell out of the top-eight seeds for RWC 2015, the draw for which takes place on Monday.
The game had looked to be going Wales' way at 12-9 with a minute to play, but replacement flanker Dave Dennis found a metre of space out wide with the Welsh defence flagging and fed Beale, who outpaced Alex Cuthbert to the corner.
It was a ninth victory in 15 Tests of a marathon season for Australia and meant they leapfrogged South Africa into second in the IRB rankings.
But the defeat was Wales' seventh on the trot and denied them the chance of a first win over a southern hemisphere nation since their 2008 victory over the same opposition.
Leigh Halfpenny kicked four penalties for Wales, who had lost November matches against Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand, with Beale notching up three of his own for the visitors.
Beale missed two other penalty attempts and replacement Mike Harris another in the sixth match between the two sides in 13 months, the Wallabies winning all five previous encounters, including the third-place play-off at the World Cup and a closely-fought three-Test series on Australian soil in the summer.
Beale missed a straightforward early penalty attempt as referee Wayne Barnes took to his whistle against a series of sloppy Welsh ruck infringements.
The visitors, fielding just three players from last year's season-ending victory in Cardiff, dominated early possession and territory, but it was Wales who first set the stadium alight when Cuthbert was set free on his own line.
A fine covering tackle by Berrick Barnes smothered Cuthbert into touch.
Beale was successful with his second penalty, struck from the halfway line, and Halfpenny responded almost immediately with his own 52-metre effort.
The Welsh full-back then pushed the home side into the lead with a second penalty in the 23rd minute after returning Wallaby openside David Pocock was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle.
Halfpenny then split the defence and while he collided with Barnes chasing his own chip ahead across the line, Toby Faletau crashed through, only to be beaten to the ball by opposite number Wycliff Palu.
Beale drew the scores level with a second long-range penalty but failed with an easier effort that would have seen the Wallabies into the lead.
Wales, with fly-half Rhys Priestland showing signs of his old confidence, looked to run everything, but Australia showed why they remain in the top three countries in the world with an aggressive, counter-rucking defence.
The Wallabies ended the half 9-6 up after Beale nailed his fifth attempt at goal after home captain Sam Warburton was penalised, again at the ruck, while Halfpenny sent a late effort wide.
The second period opened with a full seven minutes of aerial ping-pong, neither side able to capitalise on any real territorial gain.
Halfpenny, comfortably Wales' best player in the four November Tests, was on hand to again show his defensive abilities with a fine covering tackle with Ryan Jones on Drew Mitchell, who should have gone wide after a Barnes feint.
The Welsh full-back finally drew Wales level on 55 minutes with a penalty after the Wallaby scrum wilted and then put Wales into the lead when Australia captain Nathan Sharpe, playing in his 116th and final Test, was found on the wrong side of a ruck.
Replacement Mike Harris then saw his penalty drift wide as the Wallabies tried to find a way through the Welsh defence, which finally flagged when Dennis found Beale who finished excellently in the corner.
Man of the match: We go for Leigh Halfpenny after another impressive performance at the back for his country. He was yet again faultless covering the ground in attack and defence while his kicking from hand and tee means that he edges out Wallaby flank David Pocock.
Moment of the match: Of course, that last-gasp try from Kurtley Beale.
Villain of the match: Nothing too dirty to report.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Pen: Halfpenny 4
For Australia:
Try: Beale
Pen: Beale 3
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Scott Williams.
Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Digby Ioane.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Comments
firepower says...
@georgesmith you're an idiot. stop making hateful comments about Deans, Sharpe and Dennis etc. you don't even know anything about rugby. you're absolutely nothing
Posted 23:17 03rd December 2012
flatline says...
take a bow sharpie. a proper sportsman - does the hard stuff, gracious in victory or defeat, doesnt shoot his mouth off, modest. mans a dead set leg end
i wonder who @georgesmith will rant about now? oh yeah...who cares clown
Posted 22:50 03rd December 2012
Ramage says...
Good Luck Nathan Sharp a true Oz legend.
Posted 13:12 03rd December 2012
makemehappy says...
Well done Wayne Barnes - turned a poor game into an awful one with incredibly pedantic refereeing!
Posted 07:49 03rd December 2012
georgesmith says...
Those that are calling grandpa N.Sharpe a legend of the game have lost their mind. Get real. This guy is just over-rated and apart from Test cap (due to extreme selection favvouritsm), he has nothing to show for.
Posted 01:38 03rd December 2012
celticspirit says...
Respect to Sharpe! Shame he is retiring, great Aussie sportsman (yes, they do exist,,,). Shame also that that idiot Wayne Barnes can't just retire for him...
Posted 20:06 02nd December 2012
Heathy says...
Ah, jonesy2, you're back. Same old tripe though. Yes, it was the refs fault. Of course it was. Funny how very very few have actually mentioned the ref. if anything, the Welsh think they were a bit hard done by. Best you watch the game again and do some analysis as we all know refs make mistakes but most of Wayne Barnes calls were correct. Lets be honest, it was a sh@t game. Wales have been poor and so have the Wallabies by their standards. Just put this down to a bad patch. Also notice you have gone very quiet on you previous vitriolic comments against England. I assume you've disappeared up your own a@se as you normally do when you are so very wrong.
Posted 12:33 02nd December 2012
Sirjona says...
@ Patron the Wobblies struggling to beat Wayne Barnes ?????? You must be wearing Dame Edna's glasses mate. The only thing we agree on is that the man is a clown of the highest order.
Posted 10:59 02nd December 2012
irishaussie says...
very good physical match despite what many pple say, it is difficult to create space in a game when both defences are blitzing each other.
I would have been furious if Australia lost this game given it was Sharpe's final international, but they got the win and that's all that matters.
The fact remains that under Deans we have only won a single Tri Nations, just not good enough, not to mention failing to even make the final of the 2011 RWC. There have been some shocking performances, too many to recount. He selects players out of position for no apparent reason and worse still, players that are not up to standard for test level rugby. And i'm not talking about during the current injury crisis, just look at some of these players that have been regularly selected for Aus at some stage during the Deans era:
- Richard Brown -> gives away too many penalties especially for offside, has a tendency to get disorientated at the rucks and in the loose
- Sekope Kepu ->simply cannot scrummage at all
- Anthony Faingaa -> has no attacking flare or creativity, cannot keep up in attack and knocks on at crucial times or overruns the ball
Posted 06:32 02nd December 2012
Patron says...
The Championship teams are very tired. How else could you see Ireland beating the Pumas, the Wallabies struggling to beat Wayne Barnes and the All Blacks collapse in a heap. Indian bookmakers?
Posted 03:43 02nd December 2012
jonesy2 says...
cant watch games that involve wayne barnes. that muppet just makes stuff up on the spot he has no idea what he is doing
Posted 03:36 02nd December 2012
LondonWasp says...
unlucky Wales, i did feel for you when the Oz try came...
Posted 02:46 02nd December 2012
Ramage says...
I won't comment on the game as I was too busy watching the NZ/England game on my PC. Here in Australia we had to get the game on Setanta as Fox were not delivering those games on their channels. Cheapest way is to take out a 1 month subscription to Setanta for if you do it with setanta you have to take out 3 months contract. Typical of the way Union fans are treated in OZ, poor service and poor commentators.
Interesting that in the SH games have been changed to nights so the fans now have to go to a test at night or watch most tests at night so UK fans can watch the games at breakfast or brunch times. Our whole rugby watching has been turned on its head as test matches in the afternoon are a thing of the past. Yet in the UK games are run at the same times so their fans can watch the game in the afternoon without any thought to SH hemispere fans such as OZ or NZ . A 2.30pm game in Uk is at 3.30am in NZ and 1.30am in EDT in OZ or 12.30am in Queensland and the only reasonable time is 10.30pm in WA. Worse than that is the scheduling of the games both games this weekend were on at the same time which is rubbish. I want to watch both live so why cant one be scheduled later and they take turns. I know this would be mighty hard for THE RFU as sharing isnt part of their vocab.
Nathan Sharpe a mighty thank you for all you have done for OZ rugby you are a true warrior a man who many have turned to. You exemplified it the way you stood up and took on the OZ captaincy in their hour of need. The way you did this despite the snub you got from Deans at the RWC, shows the type of man you are. Well done and I know you will go into retirement knowing you have done the best for and by your Country. You are a well respected player who has served your country well and Im sure we will hear more of you in the future in your chosen profession. Haere, haere, haere, ka kite ano.
Posted 02:45 02nd December 2012
atg77 says...
Sad day for Welsh rugby. Ranking is a very poor reflection of how good this team is. Hope we're not in their pool for the next RWC... if there even is one.
Posted 01:16 02nd December 2012
georgesmith says...
Another horrible show from the Wallabies and it's all because of that hopeless coach R. Deans. The Wallabies are left with nothing to show. There is no structure or pattern, leave aside combinations. It was a forward pass from D. Dennis that resulted in K.Beale's try. Well, what can one expect from such a poor performer like D. Dennis. I'm so glad grandpa N.Sharpe will not be seen in a Wallabies jumper any more. He didn't deserve it and was carried right throughout by other players. I wish him luck. Hope he never returns as a Wallabies coach in future.
Posted 01:09 02nd December 2012
Trader2 says...
Listening to the silence of a Welsh crowd in the last seconds - brilliant! Almost took away the pain of having just watched the AB's crushed by England (almost)
Posted 23:55 01st December 2012
startledwombat says...
I was waiting all game for the inevitable line break. It happened with seconds to go. The Welsh showed better composure in the last ten minutes than they did on their tour of Australia but the Wallabies's biggest change over the past two years is that there's a hard-headedness about these tight situations that they are going to win them.
t
Posted 23:32 01st December 2012
RugbyLeRoux says...
when ever barnes ref's a game its always a stop start affair without instructing the players throughout to allow for a more flowing game. That said hope halfpenny is all right, one of the few truly world class players for the welsh. Take a bow sharpie, great career
Posted 22:53 01st December 2012
Sincero says...
Wales' record against the Wallabies is embarrassing... LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD(in Cardiff in the rain)LLLLLLLLL.
And that's only this year....
And now you're the dregs... deservedly so.
Posted 22:27 01st December 2012
Mayhem says...
@sextons whatever, Pray you don't get Wales in your group, you'll feel like you've been shafted by the proverbial goat.
Posted 22:24 01st December 2012