IT’S A PAIN GAME
Agony for Davies is huge blow for Wales
THE last person Wales want to lose is Jonathan Davies. Never mind their 13th consecutive Test defeat by Australia — which stretched their winless run in opening autumn matches to 15 years — their worst moment came 80 minutes and 50 seconds in.
With the game gone, after Leigh Halfpenny had missed the conversion to Hallam Amos’s acrobatic late score, there was a sickening blow.
Davies tried to wriggle free from Marika Koroibete but his toe stuck in the turf and the weight of his body went through his ankle as he fell. The pain looked instant and, after the final whistle, a motorised stretcher drove the centre from the field.
At least Davies was sitting up — but the concern of other players, Wallabies and Welshmen, was apparent. Later Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, said Davies was strapped up and on crutches. It did not sound good.
With the All Blacks looming large on the horizon, news today of a two-week lay-off or longer would be a nightmare for Wales.
The Lions’ man of the series, so influential against New Zealand, is one of few fit Welshmen to go toe to toe with the world champions.
The Welsh record against the All Blacks makes the Australian curse look a mere blip. No win since 1953, only three victories ever — the others coming in 1935 and against the ‘Originals’ in 1905. A run of 29 defeats would almost certainly become 30 without Davies.
Gatland is set to make many changes for the Georgia Test on Saturday. He is unlikely to have played Davies anyway, but now must rest Taulupe Faletau.
With Lions Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Ross Moriarty and George North all out, he cannot afford another casualty before Steve Hansen’s tanks roll on to his lawn on November 25. When those are all back, Wales look formidable, but not now.
Faletau did not have his best Test on Saturday in Cardiff — he came to typify Welsh profligacy. They made 16 handling errors, Faletau three.
This dalliance with a new attacking style, with two playmakers and freedom to fling the ball around, will take time to master. Wales created far more than in years gone by. Steff Evans’ score, in particular, was wonderful.
After Gareth Davies’s break, the ball travelled the width of the field, through seven sets of hands, before Evans scored his third try in three Tests on the left.
In that move Jake Ball flicked a super out- the- back pass. Forwards are now encouraged to pass more. And Ball, the second row, made the case for sticking with the new style and backing the kids.
‘We have an exciting squad and they are encouraging those guys to play with confidence,’ he said.
‘Obviously international rugby is a step up but a lot of these guys have played in regional rugby. It’s great to see so many new faces. It has brought a new vibe.’
But what ultimately matters is results. And, for Wales, Saturday ended in defeat again. Gatland has been bold in his predictions for 2019 — like Eddie Jones and England, all he cares about is winning the World Cup. Where that aim seems plausible for England, at the moment, for Wales, it does not. They simply do not — perhaps cannot — beat the best from the south often enough, if at all.
The talk this autumn has been about blooding talent, finding new stars; in essence, playing down expectations. However, the best sides win in transition. Wales had bad luck — Kurtley Beale knocked on before scoring his crucial try after pick-pocketing Steff Evans — but there is a danger this autumn could leave more scars.
Wales need a dominant win against Georgia, regardless of the team picked.
Then, when New Zealand and a poor South Africa come to town, we will see whether Wales can swim with the sharks or are still paddling in the shallow end.