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Wales' World Cup campaign ended with a bang, not a whimper as they bowed out of the competition at the quarter-final stage after a brave battle with Australia. Graham Henry's men gave all they had at the Millennium Stadium and with 15 minutes left they only trailed the Wallabies 10-9.
But then Ben Tune took advantage of some magic from Stephen Larkham, getting on the end of the fly-half's grubber kick to touch down, and Matt Burke's conversion extended their lead to eight points. That was a kick in the teeth for Wales and they never looked like getting back in contention in the final stages as Australia - who had gone in front thanks to a George Gregan try inside six minutes - took the game by the scruff of the neck. And in the sixth minute of stoppage time, referee Colin Hawke rubbed salt into Welsh wounds as he gave Gregan a second score even though Tim Horan appeared to knock on and Dafydd James seemed to be held back by Daniel Herbert before the scrum-half pounced.
Surely
a Knock on by Horan?
Burke's third
conversion meant the eventual margin of victory was 15 points - a gap the
gallant hosts did not deserve. But after booing Hawke off the pitch at
the end, the home supporters gave their team a well-earned standing ovation
as they trudged round the stadium - beaten but unbowed.Welsh coach Henry
always insisted the World Cup had come too early for the tournament hosts,
who were a shambles until his arrival last autumn transformed them into
a force again.
All this week he had laughed off suggestions they could beat Australia, using words such as "embarrassing" and "humiliating" to describe the outcome if his side were not on top of their game.In the end, the man labelled The Great Redeemer in Wales was proved right - but only after they had given the Wallabies, rated by Henry as the second best team on earth behind New Zealand, the fright of their World Cup lives.The Welsh front row, rated as one of the best in the world, gave their opposite numbers a torrid time in the scrum despite the departure of prop David Young after 38 minutes through injury.
John Eales did not have all his own way in the line-out and though Australia by and large coped with the threat of Scott Gibbs and Scott Quinnell when they ran at the visitors, Mark Taylor and Colin Charvis got more change out of them.The conditions did not help the Wallabies, who are more used to bone-dry pitches than quagmires such as the one at the Millennium Stadium.
But Henry could not have wished for better weather as Australia were given rugby union's own version of water torture, with heavy rain falling from slate-grey skies.Like the weather, the match was dour - yet every person in the Millennium Stadium stands was on the edge of his or her seat throughout as the Welsh proved they can mix it with the Southern Hemisphere's finest.
Neil Jenkins, who became Wales' most capped player with his 73rd appearance today, kept his side in touch in the first period, with the penalty count heavily against Australia and the fly-half landing all three of his place kicks.But Jenkins' boot was the only way the hosts could get points on the board in the opening 40 minutes, such was the dominance of the Wallabies defence. Australia's highly-rated backs did not fare much better as a string of handling errors cost them the chance to add to their lead time and again.
But they started in ominously fine form for the majority of those packed into the Millennium Stadium, with Gregan's first effort a deserved reward for their early attacking endeavour. Gareth Thomas had already pulled off a try-saving tackle on Larkham after the talented 25-year-old had skipped past Taylor and exchanged passes with Joe Roff. But winger Roff then evaded Chris Wyatt down the blindside and drew Shane Howarth before feeding the supporting Gregan - and there was nothing the covering Thomas could do this time to stop the Australian number nine touching down. Burke added a conversion from near the left touchline and went on to boot a penalty, though he was off-target with two later shots at goal.
With the deficit just a point, the second half was perfectly poised and Australia were clearly rattled as the Wales forwards got amongst them. But as time ticked away, and as they had nothing to show for all their effort, they were caught by a sucker punch.Herbert's run punched a hole in the Wales defence and Tune beat the brilliant Howarth to Larkham's beautifully-weighted kick through.
The joy etched on the faces of all his Wallabies team-mates was met in equal measure with relief as they pulled away from the Welsh on the scoreboard. And hard though the hosts tried, an eight-point deficit was too steep a mountain to climb, especially as the tricky conditions which had initially been their friend now became their foe. Most of the play after Tune's try was in the Welsh half and Gregan's second score merely confirmed what the home supporters had known for some time - their side was beaten.
Teams:
Wales: Howarth, Thomas, Taylor, Gibbs, James, N. Jenkins, Howley, Rogers,
G. Jenkins, Young, C. Quinnell, Wyatt, Charvis, Sinkinson, S. Quinnell.
Replacements: Bateman for Thomas (52), Voyle for C Quinnell (72), Evans
for Young (39), Lewis for G Jenkins (72).
Replacements not used: Jones, Llewellyn, Humphreys.
Pens - N Jenkins (3).
Australia: Burke, Tune, Herbert, Horan, Roff, Larkham, Gregan, Harry,
Foley, Blades, Giffin, Eales, Cockbain, Wilson, Strauss.
Replacements: Little for Tune (79), Connors for Eales (80), Finegan
for Cockbain (62), Paul for Foley (71).
Replacements not used: Grey, Whitaker, Crowley.
Tries - Gregan (2), Tune.
Cons - Burke (3).
Pens - Burke.
Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)
© PA Sporting Life