DRAGONS HOLD THEIR NERVE TO GIVE CUP HOPES A BOOST
PHEW! Wales beat Australia 29-25 in a Tokyo thriller yesterday morning to put Warren Gatland’s men in the driving seat in Pool D. Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas analyses a memorable contest.
A WORLD CUP CLASSIC
The first thing you have to say is what a game!
It swung one way and then the other, with the tension mounting to almost unbearable levels.
This was a World Cup classic and a classic story of a game of two halves.
It was also the story of a famous Welsh win.
They built the lead, they had it pegged back and the tide was all green and gold in a nerve-jangling second period.
But when it came down to it in those final frantic minutes, Welsh pride and character came through in a heroic rearguard, with skipper Alun Wyn Jones, who made a remarkable 23 tackles overall, leading by example.
It was real Rorke’s Drift stuff!
If you look at the match stats, they actually point to Australia being on top.
They had 63 per cent possession and territory, beat more defenders (30 compared to 15), made more clean breaks and offloads, earned more penalties and were 100 per cent at the line-out.
But the one thing you can’t express in a stat is heart and soul and Wales showed that when it really mattered to come out on top in the only stat that really matters — the scoreline.
They will be sore, they will be battered, but they will also be elated and now have their destiny in their own hands in Pool D.
What a game and what a win.
START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON In big games you need big starts and that’s what Wales delivered.
You could hardly have scripted a better beginning to the match as they opened the scoring after just 35 seconds.
In their first pool fixture they had been posed problems by Georgia’s counter-rucking. Now it was their turn to take a leaf out of the Georgian book.
Straight from the kick-off they swooped, driving Australia off the ball after Michael Hooper had collected and gone to ground.
It was a textbook counter-ruck from Wales, with Aaron Wainwright, who had made the tackle on Hooper, getting to his feet to claim the ball on the deck.
Then following a carry from Jake Ball and it was back to Dan Biggar, who slotted the drop-goal, turning his back virtually as soon as he struck the ball, knowing it was over.
Talk about setting your stall out and hitting the ground running.
TAKING YOUR CHANCES
In big matches it’s also about taking the opportunities when they come and Wales did just that.
After 12 minutes they extended their lead with a shot to nothing score.
With referee Romain Poite playing advantage for a round the neck tackle on Alun Wyn Jones, it was the cue for Biggar to test out the Aussies in the air. And they were found wanting.
His pin-point cross kick set up an aerial contest between Marika Koroibete and Hadleigh Parkes and there was to be only one winner.
Koroibete got himself in an awful position with his back to the ball and barely got off the ground.
In contrast, Parkes, making light of the broken bone in his hand, timed his leap to perfection, plucking the ball out of the air and rolling over the line.
With Biggar adding the conversion from wide out, it was 10-0 and the perfect start.
Then after Australia had cut the deficit to just two points, it was once again a case of Wales taking their chances to pull away again.
Rhys Patchell, on as a replacement for Biggar, showed he was more than up to the job with two nerveless penalties and then just before the break came the big moment.
Gareth Davies has become a key component in Wales’s defence with the licence he is given to come flying out of the line.
It puts pressure on the first receiver and it also creates the possibility of an interception. This was just the case here.
As his opposite number Will Genia threw out a pass to prop Allan Alaalatoa, Davies pounced, steaming up and pocketing the ball midway inside his own half.
From the instant he grabbed it you knew he was in, with Bernard Foley having no chance of catching him.
So a 13th Test try for the predatory Davies, who was named man of the match.
Only Gareth Edwards has scored more in the lineage of Welsh scrumhalves. That’s illustrious company to be keeping.
SUPER-SUB RHYS
When Biggar had to leave the field for a head injury assessment after putting in a brave try-saving tackle on the rampaging Samu Kerevi after 28 minutes, the call went out to Rhys Patchell.
It was just about the biggest challenge of his career and all the more so when it was confirmed that Biggar was having to stay off.
But the Scarlets fly-half rose to the challenge superbly.
Within a couple of minutes of entering the fray he slotted a penalty after Hooper was done for handling on the deck, and he was to have the perfect response to the Aussie captain again soon after.
When the powerful Kerevi smashed into Patchell, you feared for the Welshman given the concussion problems he has had.
But he bounced to his feet and was ready to take on the shot at goal when Kerevi was penalised for leading with the forearm into his throat after the incident was reviewed.
Hooper was unhappy with the decision, making a prolonged complaint to referee Poite, including a jibe at Patchell’s “terrible tackle technique”.
Well, there was nothing wrong with the Welshman’s place-kicking technique as he slotted over the longrange penalty. Touché, Mr Hooper.
An angled conversion of Davies’s try was to follow to take Wales into a 23-8 interval lead, which he extended with a sharply-taken drop-goal soon after the restart.
Then when Wales really needed something following the Wallabies’ second-half comeback, he delivered again, slotting over a fifth successful
punt at the sticks and once more it wasn’t a straightforward one.
Cometh the hour cometh the man, and his name is Rhys Patchell.
SET-PIECE WOBBLES
Initially the Welsh set-piece was solid enough.
The first couple of scrums were secure and the first three line-outs were all pouched by Justin Tipuric.
But then came the wobbles and they were to prove costly.
On 19 minutes the Wallabies put in a huge shove on a Welsh put-in, leaving Josh Navidi isolated as he picked up on the retreat with Hooper and Pocock jackalling him in tandem to win the penalty.
From the resulting attacking lineout the Aussies used their main attacking weapon to smash the ball up and with Poite playing advantage, Foley took on the Biggar role, sending out a cross kick for Adam AshleyCooper to cut inside to the line.
Then it was over to the other setpiece to creak.
The Welsh line-out has been excellent of late but now it began to struggle as the Aussies pilfered possession, and from the second steal their attack led to a penalty, which Foley landed to cut the gap to 10-8.
Then in the second half, with the game in the balance, the red scrum, with the two sub props on, buckled.
Wales were pinged for walking around, enabling Matt To’omua to make it a one-point game.
And then with just three minutes left their scrum was penalised again on their own ball.
But crucially the Wallabies failed to find touch thanks to a superb piece of aerial acrobatics from Tomos Williams and Wales held on for victory.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE WALLABIES
When Wales extended their lead to 26-8 shortly after the break it looked like they were in a pretty unassailable position.
But it doesn’t pay to write off this Wallabies side because they have points in their locker.
Wales had managed to starve them of ball in the first half through their physicality and pressure.
But as the second half progressed the Aussies started to accumulate possession and gather momentum.
They had a platform and they had the men to make use of it, utilising their bench to good effect to put Wales under the cosh, with Matt To’omua posing a real threat as a replacement fly-half.
It was wave after wave of green and gold and the pressure told as Wales conceded penalties and tries.
Excellent full-back Dane HaylettPetty struck first and then skipper Hooper went over after a prolonged pounding of the Welsh line.
With conversions and a penalty slotted, 26-8 became 26-25 and it was time for a grandstand finish.
Wales were flagging and it looked ominous, but Patchell provided the breathing space and then it was all about digging deep in defence for a famous victory.