WALLABY JINX STRIKES AGAIN BUT WYN-JONES SAYS SIGNS ARE GOOD
ALUN WYN-JONES claimed Wales hurt themselves in a game they could have won against Australia.
But the captain vowed his side’s 29-21 defeat will not deter them from using their new expansive style of play.
Tries from Tatafu Polota-Nau, Adam Coleman and Michael Hooper gave Australia a 22-13 half-time lead, Steffan Evans with Wales’ try and Leigh Halfpenny adding eight points.
Kurtley Beale crossed and Bernard Foley landed his third conversion, to add to a Reece Hodge penalty, meaning Hallam Amos’ late try in the corner counted for little.
Jones said: ‘We were confident going out there and I think that showed in the way we tried to play.
‘We hurt ourselves a bit in the first half but hopefully people can see the positive way we’re trying to play.
‘It’s just the balance, isn’t it? We need to keep the ball probably a bit more in our half then when we get upfield we can open it up wider.
‘We probably should have (won), the pressure we put ourselves under in those exits in the first half is something if you’re going to be hypercritical of us.
Opposite number Hooper, who was sinbinned in the second half, was pleased with his side’s efforts as they withstood that spell to close out victory.
‘This is a great place to play,’ he said. ‘They’re very loud, vocal fans, and it was another tough Test match.
‘There are some new threats we haven’t seen before but I’m happy our guys were able to deal with those threats.
‘The Welsh took it to us in the second half but the boys dug deep with 14 men on the field. I’m really proud of the boys for digging so deep.’