WALES FEAR FANS WILL SNUB HOWLEY’S FLOPS
WALES are facing the prospect of playing Argentina in a half-empty stadium after suffering an embarrassing 12th consecutive defeat by Australia. With the Welsh football team hosting Serbia in a World Cup qualifier next Saturday, the WRU are bracing themselves for a meagre turnout at the Principality Stadium. There were almost 20,000 empty seats for Saturday’s opener against the Wallabies, with fans streaming out early in protest at the team’s blunt display. It was a miserable start for Rob Howley, who has taken over the coaching duties while Warren Gatland is with the Lions, and was made worse by a serious ankle injury to scrum-half Rhys Webb. Howley claimed he saw enough positives to avoid any sleepless nights, but centre Jamie Roberts did not share his optimism after the heaviest home defeat in a decade. ‘It’s certainly a kick up the backside,’ said Roberts, whose side have conceded 29 tries in five Tests and failed to match Australia’s superior handling skills. ‘Obviously it’s different from when Warren’s here but the other coaching staff are very similar. The transition has been quite seamless. You’d like to blame a lot of different things. ‘But there’s no point being too complicated. They beat us on speed of ball and blew us away with possession. You can dress it up all you want, but we lost the gainline battle.’ Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton and Liam Williams are all due to return but Wales still have no solutions to their vulnerability against southern hemisphere opposition. ‘It’s hard to put my finger on it,’ said Roberts. ‘We couldn’t slow their speed of ball at rucks, so in defence we just couldn’t get off the line. ‘Argentina will play from their own half and, again, have big carriers. What we didn’t do on Saturday we have to do next week. It will be a long day at the office if we don’t.’ Australia No 10 Bernard Foley scored 12 points, easing the demons of June’s series whitewash by England, and is now plotting next month’s revenge at Twickenham. ‘There’s been a lot of external noise for us this year,’ he said. ‘The resilience and character this team has shown have set a platform for future success. ‘But as much as we all look forward to playing England, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. If you start looking ahead, that’s when you fall over.’
WALES: Halfpenny; Cuthbert, S Williams, Roberts, North (Amos 61min); Biggar (S Davies 65), Webb (G Davies 65); Jenkins (Smith 59), Owens (Baldwin 59), Lee (Francis 59); B Davies (Hill 64), Charteris; Lydiate (King 69), Moriaty, Tipuric. Try: S Williams. Pen: Halfpenny.
AUSTRALIA: Folau; Haylett-Petty, Kuridrani, Hodge, Speight; Foley (Cooper 67), Phipps (Frisby 67); Sio, Moore (Latu 77), Kepu (Alaalatoa 64); Arnold (Simmons 64), Coleman; Pocock (Fardy 40), Timani, Hooper.
Tries: Moore, Hodge, Kuridrani, Foley, Haylett-Petty. Cons: Foley 2. Pen: Foley.
Referee: Craig Joubert (SA).