Wales victorious over the Wallabies
Wales ended a three-year drought against the top three southern hemisphere sides by knocking off Australia 21-18 in a thriller at the Millennium Stadium. It was the only victory by a northern hemisphere team over a Tri-Nations side this year, adding to the significance of the win.
The hosts scored two fine tries, the best of which was this classic scored by recently crowned IRB World Player of the Year, Shane Williams.
The try oozed class as Williams started and finished it, within five minutes of kickoff. He then played a large part in the Lee Byrne try, beating three defenders before offloading.
The Wallabies themselves scored twice, with the difference between the two sides being a penalty from Stephen Jones, who kicked 11 points in total.
Matt Giteau kicked eight points himself, with a penalty, drop goal, and a conversion. Mark Chisholm and Digby Ioane scored the Wallabies' two tries.
Ioane’s try came with two minutes left, making for a frantic finish, but it was Wales who survived the Aussie fightback to claim only their third success over one of the southern hemisphere's "big three" since rugby turned professional in 1995.
Wales coach Warren Gatland was satisfied, but not ecstatic, after the final whistle.
“Someone had to carry the flag for the northern hemisphere, didn’t they?” said Gatland.
“I think the result was the most important thing because there are still aspects of our performance we can improve on.
“We needed to get the win and I am pretty proud of the performance. I think the best team won and we deserved to win.
“I think we have shown glimpses of what we are capable of. We have put some pride back in the jersey against some of the best teams in the world. That is the first goal we have achieved and the victory against Australia was good. We just have to keep improving.”
Time: 09:44
Note: Updated with full highlights. catch them quick, cos they may disapear.
The hosts scored two fine tries, the best of which was this classic scored by recently crowned IRB World Player of the Year, Shane Williams.
The try oozed class as Williams started and finished it, within five minutes of kickoff. He then played a large part in the Lee Byrne try, beating three defenders before offloading.
The Wallabies themselves scored twice, with the difference between the two sides being a penalty from Stephen Jones, who kicked 11 points in total.
Matt Giteau kicked eight points himself, with a penalty, drop goal, and a conversion. Mark Chisholm and Digby Ioane scored the Wallabies' two tries.
Ioane’s try came with two minutes left, making for a frantic finish, but it was Wales who survived the Aussie fightback to claim only their third success over one of the southern hemisphere's "big three" since rugby turned professional in 1995.
Wales coach Warren Gatland was satisfied, but not ecstatic, after the final whistle.
“Someone had to carry the flag for the northern hemisphere, didn’t they?” said Gatland.
“I think the result was the most important thing because there are still aspects of our performance we can improve on.
“We needed to get the win and I am pretty proud of the performance. I think the best team won and we deserved to win.
“I think we have shown glimpses of what we are capable of. We have put some pride back in the jersey against some of the best teams in the world. That is the first goal we have achieved and the victory against Australia was good. We just have to keep improving.”
Time: 09:44
Note: Updated with full highlights. catch them quick, cos they may disapear.
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30 Comments:
What a game!
offloading by wales was amazing for this try.
unlucky to concede from the lineout. bad bounce. still:D
amazing performance to beat a southern hemisphere team. shoulda beat s.a too
Matt
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 4:18 pm
Australia had 1/2 chances in the whole game that was it, Wales absolutely smashed them to pieces
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 4:21 pm
Wales/Ireland in the 6 nations commenst any1.....
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 4:22 pm
Best game of the autumn tests by far..And shane williams was immense throughout.
Amazing to think jamie roberts was running to the line with a fractured skull lol
Bring on the 6 nations :D
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 4:25 pm
to think jamie roberts was still playing, and had a hand in that try after fracturing his skull when he hit mortlock. crazy
Williams the IRB player of the year, and what a game!
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 4:34 pm
watch out SOUTH AFRICA you may have a great defense but with great attacking players like williams or BOD we will CRUSH YOU !!!!!!!!!!!
BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS VS SOUTH AFRICA IT WILL BE EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!
Jacobo.
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 5:16 pm
Yeah I'm Irish and I can't see them doing better than third in 6N...at a push. Brilliant try and it was fantastic when he forward booted the ball and it smacked into another Welsh players head. Rugby has been missing the slapstick.
Excluding of course ROG's machismo against the Pumas
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 5:22 pm
Didn't see the game but from what i hear it was a cracker. Amazing try here aswell! 6 Nations is going to be very interesting next year with Wales looking excellent, Scotland not far behind based on the AI performances, and Ireland and France will of course always be good! Pity the Italians have lost it a bit since running the Aussie's so close! Do their recent results say something about this Australian team which might detract from this Welsh victory? I hope not!
England wooden Spoon 2009, anyone? :P:PP
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 5:25 pm
senlac = i fucking hope soo
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 5:39 pm
great try, great game, great advert for rugby !
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 5:47 pm
Yess wales :D i was so happy when i read that Wales won. can't wait to watch the match!
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 6:02 pm
Being as light weight a 13 as I am (160 lbs.), I have to say it's relieving to see someone as small as Williams tear through the pitch. So many of these vids feature you great behemoth types (which are brilliant to watch, don't misunderstand), I start to wonder whether ruggers are getting larger as a whole, then a man like Williams comes along and sets me right.
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 6:24 pm
what a match.
And for the neutral, I think it's hard to not root for Wales. They threw caution to the wind.
Shane Williams should have to sleep in a hyperbaric chamber, and be assigned a security detail, including a beefeater. It would be a shame for rugby should anything to happen to him before the Lions Tour.
By Cheyanquí, at December 01, 2008 7:16 pm
The ELVs:
I find it funny that the ELVs are meant to speed up the game.
However, watching Australia scrummage tells me that perhaps the IRB should work on enforcing existing law.
How many re-sets occur? How much time is wasted?
Could anyone count and time the average number of scrum re-sets in the Tri-Nations, 6N, and RWC, and then break it up in terms of game with & without Australia?
We all know that the scrum is a dark art. However, it seems that there is a distinct disconnect between wanting to speed up the game, and wanting to speed up the game at the expense of your own dis/advantages (i.e. Australia)
However, given the re-sets versus Australia, it is one of these:
1. an honest shortcoming in AUS technique
2. a cynical ploy by AUS on the pitch
3. a traning / selection policy by AUS where scrummaging is not considered a key point of player development or selection criteria.
4. a mass conspiracy, on the part of NZL, RSA, the 6N, Argentina, and for that matter, Adnan Khashoggi, Freemasonry, and the NRL.
IMHO, it is #3. Clearly that Australia eschews training for scrummaging, and picking players who bring those skills first.
The ARU seems unwilling to make selection trade-offs necessary to select a safe scrum. Instead, they pick players who bring the best possible team for all other aspects of the game -- save the scrum set piece.
You get players who are more mobile, better ball skills, but never bothered to spend time scrummaging. Remember that each minute of scrummage training displaces training of another skill.
By Cheyanquí, at December 01, 2008 7:46 pm
i thort the game was awsum and wales were brill, australia wre lucky 2 b in the game. steven missed 2 easy penalties, martyn shud av scored just b4 half time and the 1st aussie try was a lucky bounce! the score flattered the aussies!
wales 2 win the 6n and i hope england get the wooden spoon, i would love that!
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 7:55 pm
AWESOME TRY!
THAT WAS BEYOND AWESOME! REALLY REALLY GOOD! TEXTBOOK! WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?!
By Don, at December 01, 2008 10:02 pm
NOW THAT'S A RUGBY MATCH!!!!Wales were brilliant throughout the offf-loading was awesome and Andy Powell is a fantastic player surely will be in lions squad if he keeps injury free.Well done wales the ozzies didn't know what hit them. BRILLIANT
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 10:43 pm
great start great finish from williams
awesome support from the backs and forwards
and a great pass from no.9 to spot the numbers out wide..
great try
By Anonymous, at December 01, 2008 11:25 pm
shane williams is awesome!
Good to see a small guy (relatively) show such amazing skill and prove rugby is for every type of build.
Truly amazing.
By Anonymous, at December 02, 2008 2:57 am
Cheyanqui what is it with u and australia, stop bagging their scrum. They Held their own in the tri-nations and demolished the english scrum, you're living in the past, get over it.
Also Wales did play well but i couldnt help but feel hard done buy the ref.
The amount of injuries australia have is incredible.
1. Horwill
2. Ellsom (ireland)
3. Palu
4. Mortlock (captain)
5. Berrick Barnes
6. Ashley-Cooper
By Anonymous, at December 02, 2008 6:26 am
WAY TO GO WALES. You guys smashed oz. Your my 2nd best team..... after the allblacks of coarse lol.
p.s. the 2011 world cup draw is out
By Anonymous, at December 02, 2008 7:34 am
To the Anonymous just above me,
We all know Australia has a certain grudge against Alan Lewis, mostly due to the Bledisloe Hong Kong match, but what Australia did in the scrums last weekend was their own fault.
Their squad that went toe-to-toe against Wales in the scrum on Saturday was crap. On the other hand, they surely out-performed the Welsh in the lineouts.
Williams' try was certainly a great display of team effort and quick thinking, but what about that surprising 70m haul by Mark Chisholm to score!
Anyways, Shane Williams is such an exciting player to watch. He reads the game so well that he makes decisions I'm not so sure other some other players would readily think of.
By Anonymous, at December 02, 2008 8:07 am
"Also Wales did play well but i couldnt help but feel hard done buy the ref.
The amount of injuries australia have is incredible."
Compared to Wales'? A smaller nation with MORE injuries lol Keep the excuses coming.
Wales were without: Gavin Henson, Huw Bennett, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Thomas, Sonny Parker and eventually Duncan Jones and Ian Evans whilst blooding new caps like Leigh Halfpenny and Andy Powell and using a third choice scrum half.
By Anonymous, at December 02, 2008 11:00 am
Living in the past? They held their own indeed vs England, but that was basically one game
Note: I was happy to see the Aussies scrum and win.
What I find anti-competitive is the view that if one is going to lose 70% of the scrums and win 30%, they will bring down 70% of the scrums, and re-set them hoping to get one of the 30% scrums.
The bringing down of scrums is a tactic whose frequency is unique to Australia.
All I am asking is for an explanation of that.
By Cheyanquí, at December 02, 2008 3:11 pm
Fantastic match. Nicely done Wales! If we get our full first squad healthy and can improve a bit on our passing game (which was amazing in this match) then we have a real chance at the World Cup. Wales should win the 6 nations again and Ireland and France will be battling for second. I'd love to see it go Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, Italy, France . . . but that's pure preference and wishful thinking, nothing realistic.
By Anonymous, at December 03, 2008 1:06 am
"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by MediaZone.com, Inc. "
:(
By Anonymous, at December 03, 2008 8:19 pm
MediaZone - cunts. Don't support this rugby killing amateur outfit.
By Anonymous, at December 04, 2008 3:27 am
as a welshman i am extatic about this win
but i am unsure if we wouldve had the ability to slice them up like we did had stirling mortlock been calling the shots in their defense.
but we will never know
fair play though, both teams played a cracking game of rugby and gave us something exciting to watch
By Anonymous, at December 06, 2008 2:13 pm
Load of bollocks.
We never win under Alan Lewis, he always punishes us with penalties. So many times we had the ball were going forward and Lewis would pull out some ridiculous ruck infringment to hand the possesion back to Wales. When he finally let Aus play rugby without blowing his bloody whistle we started tearing Wales apart. Five more minutes of possesion without some kind of arbitrary penalty and the game was ours.
As for the scrums, Lewis would only talk to the Australians, he had his back to the Welsh scrum at times. Utterly absurd. Terrible reffing, the guy's a joke.
By Anonymous, at December 19, 2008 12:36 am
interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it.
Scrum Detail
By Thiruppathy Raja, at May 12, 2011 9:01 am
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