I give Wales top points for showing true heart
When Kurtley Beale stepped up to kick that penalty to put the Wallabies ahead with two minutes left to play I just thought to myself, ‘here we go again’. How many times have we lost at the death to Australians?
I had images of the time Beale raced away to score in the dying moments of their 2012 win in Cardiff as he stepped up to kick his goal. My immediate impression was he had done us again.
But of all the things we have seen from Wales in this Autumn series, what they achieved in those dying moments gave me great heart. Just imagine how gut-wrenching it must have been to see that Beale kick go over and the lead go to the Wallabies with little or no time to recover.
Lots of more experienced Welsh teams, some in which I played, would never have recovered. But they got the ball back, attacked, controlled the possession and earned the penalty shot that allowed Rhys Priestland to be the hero.
I actually thought that Christ Tshiunza had got over the line before the referee went back to the penalty. It didn’t really matter, because there was no way the kick was going to be missed. That made it three wins in a row over Australia – the first time that has been achieved since 1975 – and it will give the side huge confidence going into the Six Nations. It is also another great step along the road to the 2023 World Cup, when we will once again face the Wallabies.
Seeing the Aussies go down to 14 men so early was a bit surreal. It made me count how many red cards there have been in Welsh matches this year. Rob Valetini became the sixth in 12 games.
Sometimes it gives you a massive advantage, but it can also make it more difficult. Teams become galvanised and work even harder. One thing you can say about the Aussies is they will never give up.
Seeing them face down their adversity, and a stream of decisions against them from the referee, reminded me of how tough they always are to play against. Their back play was outstanding and will have provided Stephen Jones with plenty to ponder when he does his series review.
If I had to rate the Welsh back displays this autumn I think I’d give them no more than 6 out of 10. The defensive work would probably rate 7.5; the lineout 6 and the breakdown 6. The scrum would be a 5. Where I would provide a high score is for commitment and heart – 8.5 at least.
This was probably the most difficult autumn series Wales have ever undertaken – and they were severely undercooked coming into that opening game against the All Blacks. The best performance came a week later against the Springboks and six tries to two against Fiji told its own story.
There is so much more to come from this group and just imagine how much stronger it will be when all the injured players return. George North and Alun Wyn Jones were on media duty, rather than out in the middle, and so many other world class players will become available in the not too distant future.
Wayne Pivac will need a fully loaded squad for the Six Nations because we kick-off in Dublin against Ireland, then face the resurgent Scots at home before meeting England and France. If we thought this month was difficult, just wait until February and March.
But we shouldn’t worry about what’s to come. Just look at the experience that has been banked by players like Taine Basham, Ryan Elias, Louis Rees-Zammit, Christ Tshiunza, Ben Carter, Gareth Thomas, Scott Roberts, Willgriff John and Seb Davies over the last few weeks.
Basham picked up the man of the match award yesterday and has had an outstanding autumn. The young Dragons back rower had always been tipped for a big future and his versatility in being able to play anywhere across the back row is a huge asset.
He will be able to go into the game in Dublin unconcerned about facing the Irish having taken on the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies. His growth has been remarkable and has meant we haven’t missed Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty, Jim Botham and Taulupe Faletau quite so much.
The front row strength in depth is an on-going concern. Elias has done a lot of good things in the absence of Ken Owens, but his lineout throwing needs to be far more precise.
There are a few younger candidates coming through in the second row, although there is nobody with any serious timber when you take away AWJ and Will Rowlands. Size matters at the top end of the game.
Behind the scrum it seems we are nowhere near knowing what style of game we want to play and who should execute it. The fluency and dynamism displayed by the Wallaby back line was a delight to watch.
We have some incredible individuals, but as a collective we aren’t where we need to be. Two wins and two defeats from four very tough games is a moderate return. We shouldn’t settle for that.
All in all, 6.5 out of 10 for the month with a ‘considerable potential, but keys areas to improve on’ as the payoff line from the headmaster.
“It is another great step along the road to the 2023 World Cup”