Wallabies win in style
Australia ran in four tries on their way to an impressive 33-12 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
Last Updated: 28/11/09 7:58pm
Australia ran in four tries on their way to an impressive 33-12 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
The Wallabies totally dominated, inspired by Matt Giteau, with the fly-half showing no ill-effects from last week's traumatic finale at Murrayfield.
Wales played plenty of inventive rugby but failed to breach a rugged Australian defence and managed just four penalties, never recovering from three tries in the first 25 minutes for the Wallabies.
Centre Digby Ioane, lock James Horwill and flanker David Pocock all crossed before half-time while substitute hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau added a fourth in the final 20 minutes.
Wales boss Warren Gatland, meanwhile, must reflect on the second-heaviest defeat of his 22-Test reign, and the biggest loss in Cardiff that resulted in his team being booed off.
Injury woe
Gatland was not helped by the withdrawal of skipper Ryan Jones before the kick-off with a back injury, while Shane Williams limped off after five minutes and Leigh Halfpenny and Matt Rees also failed to make it to half-time.
Giteau followed an opening 50-metre penalty by rifling a kick into space that unlocked Wales' defence and allowed Ioane a simple finish inside the first 10 minutes.
The Wallabies looked like scoring every time they attacked, and an inevitable second try arrived when props Benn Robinson and Ben Alexander linked superbly in open play and Horwill finished off on 19 minutes.
Amid the flurry of Australian points Wales lost Halfpenny and Rees - hooker Rees was stretchered off - and the home side looked hopelessly devoid of ideas.
Pocock scored the Wallabies' third try in the 24th minute, and all Wales could muster were three Jones penalties and a Halfpenny strike as they exited at half-time 23-12 adrift, having been horribly outclassed.
The second period had a depressing air of inevitability about it from a home perspective, and Wales were clinically finished off when Giteau carved them open and Polota-Nau touched down.
Giteau added the extras, putting his seal on a high-class Wallabies display packed with adventure, flair and deadly attacking execution.
For Wales, their three injured Lions - Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne and Adam Jones - cannot return quickly enough, and Gatland will hope the squad can put the mental scars from this performance behind them when they kick-off their Six Nations campaign against England on February 6.
