Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Wales go down to Australia at the Millennium Stadium

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Wales go down to Australia at the Millennium Stadium

Wales suffered another loss at the hands of a southern hemisphere team as they Australia beat them 25-16 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. The home side had the upper hand at times, but were punished by the elusive Wallaby backs.

Three tries from David Pocock, Kurtley Beale, and Ben Alexander were backed up by two penalties and two conversions by youngster James O’Connor, while Wales scored a try through Richie Rees with Stephen Jones kicking three penalties.

There was a moment in the game where it looked like Wales were going to fire up for one of their famous late changes. The boot of O’Connor punished them though and effectively made the gap too large for the home side, who despite missing a few key players, managed to assert their dominance up front.

"We were missing quality players against one of the best sides in the world. But we were direct, physical and the scrum went well," said coach Warren Gatland.

"I think we can just be a bit smarter in the way we play sometimes," said prop Gethin Jenkins. "We've really got to work on switching on from any turnovers and getting back in the line. Once we lost the ball, we sort of switched off a bit and they punished us. It's a team game. You can't always win in all areas of the game," he added.

Wales next face South Africa, a team they haven’t beaten in their last 11 attempts. They will be bolstered by the return of Lee Byrne though and quite possibly Ryan Jones.

Time: 05:52

first

By RUGBY_SH9, at November 07, 2010 10:28 pm
if fans want to boo opposition sides they should go to football games its unsportsmanlike and dosent belong in rugby

By Anonymous, at November 07, 2010 10:43 pm
Booing is unnecessary. And most of the time it happened because the fans didn't know why the Welsh were being penalised. They should either read up on the laws or pay more attention/drink less.

And did JOC outrun William for Beale's try?

By Anonymous, at November 07, 2010 10:45 pm
FOURTH!!

By Flooz, at November 07, 2010 10:51 pm
yeah JOC outran Williams which I really didn't expect. And how about the strength of Mitchell, he was like a second rower with those two one armed shoves.

By Anonymous, at November 07, 2010 10:52 pm
Australia had to adjust to a different style of play and a different style of reffing.
Barnes seemed to want tos low the game down. No ref should ever be allowed to tell a player he can't take a quick tap.
And the Welsh were killing the ball without penalty.
Still Aus won despite losing the scrum battle, so all's well.

By Jono, at November 07, 2010 11:03 pm
Well, it was Wales game to lose.

Where has Jamie Roberts been? He seems to have missed a lot of important international matches ever since the Lions tour...he would've been useful in the match for sure. A Roberts-Hook (or even Roberts-Shanklin) combination could've cut through Giteau and Cooper like butter, but what's the use in speculating...

Good job, Australia. Yet again, AAC-O'Connor-Mitchell-Beale have proven to be a terrific backline. The Aussie scrum, however...what on earth was that about??

I agree about the booing, too. I felt like I was watching a Top 14 match.

By falafel waffle, at November 07, 2010 11:07 pm
On the All Blacks website, Hosea Gear's try against England was given to Rico Gear. I wish this to be changed immediately as this is misleading.

By Anonymous, at November 07, 2010 11:07 pm
"No ref should ever be allowed to tell a player he can't take a quick tap."

What are you on about? Most of the time, it's so the ref can have a word with the infringing side, or give out a card. Sometimes, it's because the tap is taken from somewhere other than the mark. It happens all the time - including Super 14 matches and 3N games. Don't be ridiculous.

By falafel waffle, at November 07, 2010 11:11 pm
Feel like OZ are where they were back in 2005-2007, relying on backs with no forward dominance. Need to get that scrum to where it was last year.

By pizzle, at November 07, 2010 11:12 pm
The ref can give yellow anyway, after play stops.
Barnes actually says, "no, no quick taps". That's a joke, why shouldn't the sdie that has had an ifnringement against them be allowed to play on if they want to?
The ref can always card the opposition during a break in play, it's fine under the laws.
The Aussies wanted to keep the game going, keep the ball moving and the ref refused to let them.
Bad reffing, completely contrary to what the IRB is trying to get refs to do.

By Jono, at November 07, 2010 11:28 pm
LOL at the ausfailian 'scrum'
We're gonna make your front row look like children at twickenham ;)

By ElTigre, at November 07, 2010 11:46 pm
he said 'no no quick taps' cause he was giving a yellow card to shanklin. its just done that way, its not soccer where you can go back miles to give someone a card.

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 12:08 am
@Jono. I agree. This is a perfect example of the mindset that has officiating being more important than the game. Aust were very keen to tap and run from in front of the posts because at that stage of a close game 7pts would have made a big difference and they were confident they could get them. The ref could easily have given the card at the next stoppage. Basically it's just a case of playing advantage but in the end Aust were the one's penalised.

By secondfive, at November 08, 2010 12:15 am
Anonymous said...
he said 'no no quick taps' cause he was giving a yellow card to shanklin. its just done that way, its not soccer where you can go back miles to give someone a card.

Sorry Anon but that's not true. I've seen it done regularly. And it wouldn't have been a matter of going back miles. All he had to do was give Aust a a couple of phases to score and if they didn't, then stop the game and give the card. Easy.

By secondfive, at November 08, 2010 12:19 am
secondfive, yes, it is done, but I wouldn't say "regularly". The more "regular" occurrence is what happened here where the ref stops play and the clock and gives the player a card.

My contention was mostly with Jono saying OZ had to deal with a "different style of reffing" as though this is unique to Barnes. As I said, it happens in S14 and the 3N, so I don't know why OZ would've been accustomed to otherwise.

I really don't care for Barnes at all - I think he tends to be a bit too subjective sometimes or he guesses at the call. But this game left me without much to complain about from him.

By falafel waffle, at November 08, 2010 12:42 am
Australia were reasonably good apart from the scrum. Could have been better though.

Wales backs were average at best. Lacking creativity. The Wales pack was exceptional. Was not expecting that at all. Walburton (think that's his name) made one amazing steal while being dumped out of a ruck by Rocky.

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 12:51 am
Australia wanted to run the ball, as the side that was infringed against they should have been allowed to.
Wales were peddalling backwards, no defensive structure and Australia felt they had a try for the taking (and judging by their recent internationals they probably would have got one).
The ref refused to let them, aiding Wales.
He shouldn't be allowed to do that. The yellow card could have waited. There's nothing stopping him from giving the yellow later, in the first break of play.

By Jono, at November 08, 2010 1:54 am
Australian forwards can do everything - lineout, catch, pass, tackle, kick, ruck, counter-ruck, run - except scrummage. If a nation is going to put 15 men on a rugby pitch wearing the national colours, they have to be able to scrummage. Otherwise they should only play 7s.

As an Australian I am embarrassed to see our scrum falter.

It might help if all 8 pushed. I know the backrowers want to get after the 8 or the half back quickly or put pressure on the 10, but as we saw against Wales, you can't do much if your scrum is going backwards or is being penalised. At one point I thought the Welsh were going to push over.

As for the English... if they get all their backs running in the same direction they call it an "attack". The rest of the time their backs are 7 guys standing next to the forwards for the national anthem. English backs are just someone to pass the ball to so that it can be kicked away. The English are just dull, dull, dull.

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 2:23 am
@Anon. As for the English... if they get all their backs running in the same direction they call it an "attack".

True, which is why the NH defence always impresses the NH fans, until they face some real back play.

By Davey, at November 08, 2010 2:32 am
Australia got well beaten at scrum time.
But put it in perspective. Last year at this same stadium, Australia dominated Wales at scrum time. The same two front rowers smashed the Welsh scrum (which was a weaker scrum of course).
The point being they can scrum, even if they didn't on the weekend.
There are reasons. Alexander is only just back from injury and Robinson has only played a handful of gmaes since coming back, and both could use some gym time to bulk up, cuz they both seem light at the moment.
More important though, is how the scrum got beaten this time.
The two big things, and they were glaringly obvious, were the backrowers not pushing and the whole scrum constantly losing the engagement (they were too slow, they kept missing Barnes' call and Wales engaged quicker every time).

If they both engage on time (it doesn't help that every ref has a compeltely different timing these days but it's the same for both sides so no excuses) and also the backrowers stay bound and support their front row they should at least mitigate any advantage England will ahve this weekend.

Regardless, despite NH views, it isn't actually nesisarey to win the scrum to win a game of rugby any more. It obviously helps, but it's not needed, as much as that might bug the scrum fans up north.

By Bill, at November 08, 2010 2:47 am
The rest of the time their backs are 7 guys standing next to the forwards for the national anthem.

Haha...sad...depressingly sad...but true.

By fry, at November 08, 2010 2:56 am
Re quick taps:

What if Barnes did indeed decide to wait until the next stop in play, and Shanklin infringed again? Or, what if Shanklin scored a try before bring carded?

While its annoying to pause and card rather than to allow a quick tap, there is complete logic to it.

By Mise, at November 08, 2010 3:21 am
how bloody good is beale looking at the moment. always thought he wasnt quite there whilst playing at 10 but hes looking the goods at 15.

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 3:27 am
At 4min 32secs in the vid. Why did the ref say no quick one? to a quick tap. Or give them any advantage before he blew the whistle.
The should've turned that into 7 points!!

By Mart, at November 08, 2010 3:29 am
I noticed in this game how hesitant the ref was to make the tackler roll away. The tackler was allowed to play the ball without having released.

By Bill, at November 08, 2010 4:04 am
JOC can be very proud to have out toed Shane Williams.

And where has Kurtley Beal come from in the past few months?

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 4:59 am
"if fans want to boo opposition sides they should go to football games its unsportsmanlike and dosent belong in rugby"

Booing and cheering is theater. Get over yourself.

If your backwards and bigoted view was enforced rugby as a spectator sport would slowly die.

By Chris, at November 08, 2010 5:54 am
"If your backwards and bigoted view was enforced rugby as a spectator sport would slowly die."

Yeah, Chris, he's the one that needs to "get over himself".

By trappist, at November 08, 2010 7:01 am
Weak scrum, but Australia played to their strong points, and it served them well.

Now that goal kicking looks secure under JOC, I really can't see England winning next game.

By Jeremy, at November 08, 2010 7:17 am
"Yeah, Chris, he's the one that needs to "get over himself"."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JLbAePwoHQ

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 7:58 am
Re yellow cards / no quick tap (and by the way that's "tap" singular, not taps as some people have suggested on here, as if Barnes was banning it for the entire game): nothing unusual at all about this incident.

What was unusual was the last five minutes of last week's NZ v Oz game, where (in my opinion) the ABs deliberately infringed at least twice, seemingly to sacrifice a penalty to give themselves time to get their defence reorganised. Twice the ref (Rolland wasn't it?) had his hand on his yellow card pocket but let the Australians play on when they asked to go for a quick tap.

Good common sense refereeing and made for a fantastic climax to the game. Not the norm though and the yellows were probably not given simply because they'd have made very little difference with less than a minute to go.

Correct action, by Barnes in this case, however unfortunate the effect on Australian momentum.

By Von, at November 08, 2010 8:09 am
Bill's scrum post is the best comment on this page.

I also expect an improved Aussie scrum next weekend, although I actually think England will still smash them in the scrum.

The conclusion remains the same though - even if England scrum the Strayans off the park, if they don't shackle the backs they'll lose.

By Von, at November 08, 2010 8:30 am
To the Anonymous who posted this:
As for the English... if they get all their backs running in the same direction they call it an "attack". The rest of the time their backs are 7 guys standing next to the forwards for the national anthem. English backs are just someone to pass the ball to so that it can be kicked away. The English are just dull, dull, dull.
Very amusing, but a bit lazy and clichéd.

I think you'll find the English rugby mindset has finally! shifted and you'll see England run a lot more and more.

By Von, at November 08, 2010 8:42 am
Mise said... Re quick taps: What if Barnes did indeed decide to wait until the next stop in play, and Shanklin infringed again? Or, what if Shanklin scored a try before bring carded?

Chances of Shanklin scoring in a couple of phases = nearly nil.
Chances of Aust scoring in a couple of phases = high.

Von said... Re yellow cards / no quick tap (and by the way that's "tap" singular, not taps as some people have suggested on here, as if Barnes was banning it for the entire game):

Mise was obviously addressing the issue of quick taps and so the plural is appropriate.

By Stuart, at November 08, 2010 9:18 am
I'm just really sick of the SoHem teams beating up on the NoHem's . . . especially Wales. No complaints to make, they just keep straight up beating us. Still - Cymru forever!

By Just a tracking site, at November 08, 2010 9:21 am
Australia could be such a dominant force if they could sort out that scrum. Was Williams run around all day by O'Connor? he looked to be struggling with the pace of O'Connor on both tries (and the fact Beale seemed to just appear on his shoulder).

By Nick, at November 08, 2010 10:20 am
"On the All Blacks website, Hosea Gear's try against England was given to Rico Gear. I wish this to be changed immediately as this is misleading."

Are you simple? I keep noticing these type of comments here, but this site has nothing to do with the All Blacks website!?! Or are you merely thinking out loud? Very strange.

By Scotsdale, at November 08, 2010 10:23 am
i'm really impressed by this aussie side. They have have fire in their legs.
Despite their scrum is inexistent, they are approaching their top level.

The last test vs France will be a crunch.

By Flooz, at November 08, 2010 11:22 am
THAT LADIES & GENTLEMEN IS THE GREATTEST BACKLINE IN THE WORLD AT THE MOMENT... not so much the greatest scrum but hey as long as the scrum is the only negative and they keep winning I'm happy.

By ChinUp, at November 08, 2010 11:47 am
Wales wide defence was poor. Mark Jones used to do a brilliant job on 1 wing but now he has had to retire. Shane Williams missed a tackle but he hasn't let Wales down in defence many times. I am not sure how wales can improve their backs really. Lee Bryne was a HUGE MISS but if you have jamie roberts and hook in midfield it is poor defensively but brilliant in attack. Whereas a Bishop Shanklin combination is very solid defensively but maybe a bit lacking in attack. i would give those two another go as it was their first game together. A fit Gavin Henson would sort the centre out though. Hope he is back before the WC.

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 12:01 pm
That, ChinUp, is highly debatable. :)

By Scotsdale, at November 08, 2010 12:05 pm
... damm thats an impressive backline

By Anonymous, at November 08, 2010 12:07 pm
"LOL at the ausfailian 'scrum'
We're gonna make your front row look like children at twickenham ;)'"

It doesn't matter the Australian back-line will completely obliterate the English!!

By Rabz, at November 08, 2010 1:36 pm
"A fit Gavin Henson would sort the centre out though."

Not to mention, give it a nice base tan and some well-worked hair. I say that as a joke...because as much as I like to make fun of the guy, he actually is a pretty terrific rugby player.

By elmo, at November 08, 2010 6:32 pm
mmm people slag him off, but on form he really is rock solid on defence and a wonderfully creative player.

(and YES, despite that i know he's a prick who loves himself.)

By David, at November 08, 2010 6:54 pm
Kurtley Beal is outstanding!
Maybe best fullback in the world at the moment!
This guy can become one of the very bigs! He´s still very young!

By GTI, at November 08, 2010 8:14 pm
The English back line has shown more variety of late. There's a taller guy, a shorter guy and another bloke seems to have changed the way he does his hair.

By Anonymous, at November 09, 2010 4:22 am
GTI..

Are you forgetting a certain Mils Muliana?

By Link, at November 10, 2010 1:15 am
yes, yes he is

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 6:34 am