Wallabies come back from 21 down
Australia stage an astonishing revival in Cardiff test match
Australia came from 21 points down with 23 minutes left to overhaul Wales 39-34 in an astonishing turnaround in their Cardiff rugby test yesterday.
After the historic loss to Georgia a week earlier, Wales desperately needed the win more than the heavily depleted Wallabies and delivering in style by rolling to 34-13 with thier best rugby of the month.
But Wales gifted the diehard Australians a way back in when captain Justin Tipuric was yellow-carded for tripping.
They were smart enough to expose Tipuric’s absence when wing Mark Nawaqanitawase scored off lineout ball. Then the Wallabies forwards earned a penalty try from a rolling maul and they were trailing only 34-32 with six long minutes to go.
Moreover, Wales were reduced to 13 players as replacement hooker Ryan Elias was yellow-carded for collapsing the maul.
Australia made that count, too. Nawaqanitawase’s break had support, Wales halfback Kieran Hardy intercepted the last pass but knocked it forward, and Australia replacement hooker Lachlan Lonergan regathered and ran in the winning try, his first in test rugby, in the 78th minute.
Despite racking up their most points against Australia, the Welsh
managed the last quarter badly and their ninth loss in 12 tests gave them their worst calendar year since 2010.
The future of coach Wayne Pivac was already in doubt before the match but he was keen, after his 20th loss in 34 tests, to see out his contract to the end of the Rugby World Cup next year.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that,” Pivac said.
“The heat on me during the week was good because it was off the boys. They played large parts of that game exactly how we wanted them to but when it got down to 14, 13 players it’s hard to keep any side out. That’s what cost us in the end.”
Australia have also lost nine tests
this year but completed a grueling, injury-ridden, five-test tour of Europe. They beat Scotland by one, lost to France and Italy by one each, and to Ireland by three.
“We could have won all five and lost all five, that’s the sort of tour its been,” coach Dave Rennie said. “It was good to win a tight one. We had control in France and control in Ireland and didn’t finish off. We’ve got some learning to do and this (win) will help.”
The teams are due to meet in the Rugby World Cup pool stage next September but if the Wallabies are full strength, only five or six from the runon side in Cardiff ought to start in Lyon, France. They didn’t have the
likes of Michael Hooper, Rob Valetini, Nic White, Bernard Foley or Tom Banks. First five-eighths Ben Donaldson, who missed the last-gasp conversion to beat Italy, and No 8 Langi Gleeson started a test for the first time.
A big hit by Gleeson on Wales fullback Josh Adams gave Donaldson an early penalty kick he slotted to settle nerves.
Adams started after Leigh Halfpenny suffered a back spasm in the warmup and withdrew late for the second time this month. But Wales had reloaded with Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Gareth Anscombe and all enjoyed big games.
The team held the ball patiently and looked for space. Jones featured with an offload and a backpass in the leadup to the first two tries by backrowers Jac Morgan and Faletau, who was playing his 100th test and 95th for Wales. Anscombe kicked Wales to 20-6 after 28 minutes.
Australia came back with a rolling maul try for hooker Folau Fainga’a and survived a stressful finish to the half without sin-binned halfback Jake Gordon.
After a fourth consecutive fivemetre scrum, Hardy attacked the short side but was held up by Tom Wright, the fullback covering for Gordon behind the scrum.
Wales came out of halftime at 20-13 up in an even better position.
A 52-metre penalty attempt by Reece Hodge hit the post then prop Tom Robertson, who replaced captain James Slipper during the break, was yellow-carded and Australia were down to 13 men.
Morgan bagged two tries in a second straight test from a rolling maul.
Gordon returned but Australia was still a man down, and Wales wing Rio Dyer scored from a textbook buildup. Wales was cruising at 34-13 but then began to lose its composure.
Anscombe, who extended his perfect goalkicking record this month to 14 out of 14, left with a right shoulder injury.
Then Nawaqanitawase, who made his debut only two weeks ago, launched Australia’s fightback with a pair of brilliantly taken tries.
Wales still led by nine with the captain in the sin bin when Jones and Faletau were subbed off. That was the point when the home side fell apart under pressure and the Wallabies cashed in succeed in Cardiff for the first time in five years.