Brave Wales Show Promise

By Lestyn (15/06/03)
June 15 2003

Let's be honest we never really expected Wales to come anywhere near the Aussies really did we? The margin of defeat was a lot better than most of us could have hoped for, and it could have been closer as well had the backs had a little more direction and conviction.

Too much going side ways and not enough going forwards let us down in the end. The lineout was a positive, Sidoli was a world class jumper. The back row including youngster Jonathan Thomas, all were very busy. Cooper's service to his backs was top notch. Stephen Jones and Mark Taylor were far too one dimensional in midfeild. The wings lacked a little pace, but Shanklin and Mark Jones got involved more than usual.

Rhys Williams and Jamie Robinson looked a little out of depth, both's defence was lack lustre and neither really managed to use their pace to great affect. The scrum struggled, not so much due to power but more on the technical side. Gethin Jenkins put himself around in the loose very well, but in the scrum he struggled against

The opening minutes saw phase after phase of Wales pressure, but it served only to benefit the home side. After delicate handling between backs and forwards the ball went out to the left, but Mark Taylor failed to pass with an over-lap beckoning. The ball spilt loose over the line and Sailor left the likes of Jamie Robinson and Rhys Williams for dead. Oh dear. Flatley pulled the conversion wide.

Sailor crossed again, this time Aussie full back Chris Latham exploited space in the Welsh defence, kicking into space for Sailor to collect and score with ease. Where was Rhys Williams? Latham went from provider to scorer, after both sides had kicked a penalty a piece. The full back who recently turned down a move to the Celtic League with Munster, simply ran down the blindside touchline, his pace too much for Colin Charvis to handle.

In the latter stages Wales gradually began to get more and more into the game. But last last gasp defence prevented us from taking advantage. The lack of experience probably explained our impatience in front of the posts. Charvis came closest to scoring, but Gregan just managed to hold him up over the line.

18-3 at half time and shockingly we were still in this game, a converted try and we would be right back in it.

The second half was a tribute to the hard work Steve Hansen and the players have been putting in. Usually a Welsh side would begin to fade away, due to a combination of a lack of concentration and poor fitness. But to their credit this one stuck at it and even gave the home side a fright.

It was expected that the Aussies would look for a score to kill off the game in the opening minutes of the half, but through a combination of solid Welsh defence and their own indecision, the score line remained the same.

After Flatley had missed another easy penalty in front of the posts, Wales became more attack minded. Minutes later Jamie Robinson crossed, after the forwards had made the hard yards after a lineout close to the Australian line. Stephen Jones converted to reduce the deficit to only eight points with the hour mark approaching.

With the team starting to gain more belief, it was cruel that the Wallabies hooker Jeremy Paul crossed the line almost immediately after Robinson's score. Ozz number eight Toutai Kefu had caused the damage in the Welsh defence before offloading to Gregan who sent Paul over. Joe Roff took over the kicking duties from Elton Flatley, who had a complete nightmare with the boot.

At 23-10 there was a small bit of hope left, but Nathan Grey put the result out of doubt ten minutes from time, exploiting some tire tackling from Robert Sidoli in front of the posts.

Gareth Cooper was unlucky not to score two tries, the first of his efforts saw him pulled down just short of the line after a brilliant burst of pace near half way, before kicking ahead. The scrum half was also denied with just a minute left on the clock, in the far right corner he was a judged to have knocked the ball on after a last ditch Aussie tackle.

Man of the match: Robert Sidoli

The Ponty forward put in a performance similar if not better than the one he did against England in the six nations. He made sure we won nearly all our lineout ball as well as being all around the pitch in both attack and defence.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries: Sailor 2, Latham, Paul, Grey
Con: Roff
Pen: Flatley

For Wales:
Try: Robinson
Con: S Jones
Pen: S Jones