Following Australia’s emphatic 52-20 victory over Wales in Cardiff, here are the five key takeaways from Wallabies icon David Campese.
The top line
It’s a long time since I’ve been to the wonderful Principality Stadium and I have to say what an incredible cathedral of rugby it is – I thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality from the fanatical Welsh fans and I have always admired their culture greatly.
To see them put to the sword as they were today saddens me in some respects, despite how well we, the Wallabies, played at times. I’m told that this is Wales’ worst losing streak and this is their 11th successive defeat.
Put simply, Australia had more power on the gainline and then Wales were absolutely torn apart on transition attack, with errors punished severely – as we saw with the Tom Wright and Nick Frost tries and the way their line-out fell apart once Dewi Lake was replaced by Ryan Elias.
Australia got real go-forward from Rob Valetini and Seru Uru, who both carried hard and direct to make some big dents in the Welsh midfield, and outside of James Botham and Aaron Wainwright’s moments, Wales simply couldn’t compete in terms of gainline power. Wales are young and there were plenty of things to build on but with 58% to 42% possession, it’s hard to win a Test match against Tier One opposition.
But to score eight tries to two away in Cardiff is a very special performance from a side that was struggling so obviously a year ago. Australia aren’t the finished article yet, but they’ve turned the corner I mentioned in the week and combining their phase play with some individual moments of attacking flair is well on the way to rediscovering the ‘Wallaby Way’ that’s so important to our rugby.
Curate’s Egg
Eight tries to two puts a smile even on my critical face! A big shout out to Player of the Match Wright who took his hat-trick chances well but also completed a few passes and offloads, a part of his game that I’ve been very critical of in the past. Wrighty was world-class today and I want to see him play like this every time he wears the green and gold.
And Matt Faessler had a real day to remember – I think he’s the first Aussie hooker to grab a hat-trick. I know some may say a hooker’s hat-trick is often drive-overs, but this is all about industry and work-rate, making yourself available when you’re on your straps so that you allow yourself to score. Matt did great in that respect, although he’ll be very disappointed about the way the scrum went where the experienced Wallaby front-row came off second best.
We took the game away from Wales with power in that last 30 and as we know, power creates space, one of the most basic principles of rugby. There are a lot of things to work on – playing for 80 is a key one, and not taking our foot off the gas like we did for 30 minutes either side of half-time, but had you offered us or the coaching team a record win against Wales, we’d have bitten your arm off.
We learned a lot about combinations, we increased depth in a couple of positions like on the flank and in the backline and I’d say that this was a big step forward on our journey for the second week running.
Card confusion
Now, the moment I saw Samu Kerevi make contact with Jac Morgan’s head, I feared for the worst. But what puzzled me is why a player of some 50 caps plus like Samu is losing control of his own tackle entry and defensive shape. These guys are pros and handing ‘easy outs’ at Test level and putting pressure on your own teammates is almost unforgivable. The guys know the laws, they understand the consequences and there’s little argument that Samu should have seen red.
However, what puzzled me was how a flying shoulder to Nic White’s head was nothing more than a penalty. We have to protect players and prevent them from concussion incidents and for me that was without question a yellow card.
But teams practice for periods like this now and the way Australia played the game with a man in the bin is to their credit. Like Wales in that first half, they refused to be phased by the situation, and they scored a remarkable three tries during that 20-minute red card period, underlining that when you’re a man down you play as much of the time as you can up at the other end of the pitch and demonstrating that in open play, the Wallabies had a lot more tonnage and firepower than Wales.
Australia four months ago would have crumbled in a situation like this and the way they managed the moment is a clear demonstration of the confidence our players got from the win at Twickenham.
Wales never gave up
I have to take my hat off to the guts Wales displayed. Given where they are mentally at the moment after their horror run, it would have been easy to have gone back into their shells after the 19-point burst by Australia in the first half.
But credit to our hosts, crucially they identified the issues in front of them, increased physicality in the breakdown and took Australia on. The Wainwright try came as a direct result of the pressure from Archie Griffin and Wales held their nerve to hit through phases and send the eight over, a really emphatic answer to the problems they’d encountered.
I think it rocked the way Australia were defending. In the early stages, we stayed out of the ruck contest to spread a defensive line and to create a numerical advantage in defence. Wales reacted to that and hammered hard into the soft shoulders and made Australia narrow up and that showed real rugby IQ from men in red.
Wales are in a hole, but they’re learning how to get out of it. Like Australia, they’re a relatively small rugby nation who need to create teamship and an identity of the way they play and I think we saw that today in Cardiff.
Wales have a lot of skill and are clearly able to think on the hoof, but the last 30 killed them. They didn’t give up, but looked knackered as the power differential took a toll on them and that’s when the floodgates opened, but they shouldn’t lose sight of the things they did very well for long periods of the match.
The big question is will their coach survive this November? Gatland has given a lot to Wales, but is it the case that his voice no longer carries the weight it once did? Only time will tell.
Welsh youngsters
I have to say that it’s not as doomy and gloomy in terms of Welsh talent coming through as some are making out.
Firstly, Griffin, who is third third-choice tighthead at Bath, went like a freight train in the scrum and gave world-class prop Angus Bell a really torrid time. He also banged the ball up in carry and made a few big tackles.
Tom Rogers on the wing also caught my eye. He’s a tall lad, some 6’4” I believe, but as brave as hell under the high ball, made some brilliant reads in defence and put a marker down. With the new escort laws as they are, players of that stature offer a target for the touchline aerial battle and the youngster really came into his own. I was astounded when Warren Gatland hooked him off at 55 minutes as he was giving the Welsh backline a target in the air to work off and the decision made no sense at all. It was batsh*t crazy!
The only thing I can conclude is Steve Borthwick must’ve texted Warren to remind him that it was time to make a nonsensical replacement call. It’s the only explanation!
Add in Ellis Bevan who had some lovely touches in midfield, and James Botham, who, like his Grandad, seemed to relish playing the Aussies, and I think Wales have a lot of plusses in terms of their talent coming through. Botham’s one-handed pick-up off the ground for his disallowed try was like watching Beefy in the slips and I can give him no higher praise than that.
Elsewhere, Aaron Wainwright again showed his engine – I’ve always liked him as he’s a skilled footballer, and I thought Dewi Lake again led by huge personal example and Wales have a captain to build around there.
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