Despite the close scoreline, Australia never really looked in great danger of losing to Wales in Cardiff as the Wallabies extended their win streak against the Welsh to 13 games.
A terrifically physical contest was kept close in large part thanks to the whistle of referee Glen Jackson, who awarded 15 penalties to the home side and only 3 for the visitors.
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» Re-live the match with our live blog
Of course it is not the job of the referee to ensure that both teams receive an equal share of the penalty count, but in a relatively evenly fought contest it is hard to fathom how one side could have infringed 500 percent more then the other.
That being said, the Wallabies did make it easy for Jackson to keep the home side in the game. What will concern Michael Cheika most is the amount of avoidable penalties which were conceded.
You’re always going to give penalties away in rugby, it’s just part of the game, but it’s the discipline required to not give away the unnecessary ones that separates the best from the rest.
For example, in the second half Adam Coleman gave away back-to-back penalties – one on the half way line for hands in the ruck when Jackson had clearly called for hands off, which allowed the Welsh into Wallaby territory – and then again in the 22 when Coleman slowed the ball down by not rolling away, unnecessarily so as the Wallabies had good defensive cover set to handle the next phase.
It’s hard to see the Wallabies winning at Twickenham if they are on the end of such a lopsided penalty count again.
No doubt Eddie Jones will make the officials aware of the Wallabies’ lack of discipline in order to prime them for the contest – and to wind up Michael Cheika.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
To file this win under ‘job done’ is probably not doing the win justice. Despite the fact that Wallabies lead for most of the contest and it always felt as though the Welsh were kept at arm’s length, road wins are always worth savouring in international rugby.
The Welsh displayed terrific defensive line speed in an attempt to shut down the Wallabies’ big centre combination of Samu Kerevi and Tevita Kurindrani, and it had the desired result. Kerevi, despite a great willingness to run the ball, was completely nullified.
The giant centres combination rarely works in rugby, and yet coaches continue to go back to it.
In fairness, the criticism of the Kerevi/Kurindrani partnership has traditionally been based around their defensive solidity, but both defended their channels very well against good opposition in Jonothan Davies. Expect Karmichael Hunt to come into the side next weekend to offer a different threat in attack.
The metronome for the Wallabies in this one was halfback Will Genia, who dictated the tempo of the game, alternating between patience and cut-throat attack.
Genia has enjoyed a welcome return to form in recent months. Against Scotland in June one wondered if we were watching a former great well past his prime, but the diminutive nine has produced some terrific form in recent Test matches and his man-of-the-match effort in Cardiff was reminiscent of his best days, when he was at the top of the class for halfbacks in world rugby.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
The Wallabies’ scrum came under pressure, especially later in the game once Tatafu Polota-Nau had been substituted and the Wallabies lost Michael Hooper to the sin bin as a result of his teams’ repeated infringements, but the general theme was a lack of stable footing on the slippery surface rather than a lack of power or technique in the scrum contest. It will be an area of focus for the Wallabies this week, if it wasn’t already.
Genia spoke post-game about the Wallabies’ winning mindset, and it was evident in Cardiff. Capitalising when on top, nullifying when under pressure. It’s a winning formula and a good habit to be in.
At Twickenham, England made hard work of beating Argentina and looked very rusty at times. The Wallabies will aim to take that winning minsdet to London as Cheika smells revenge for Eddie Jones’ masterclass down under last year.
PiratesRugby
Guest
I didn't see any players in yellow Bennalong. My team wears gold.
ThugbyFan
Guest
I wouldn't believe everything in the stats. The stats also say that no WB backrower missed a tackle, at this very moment I am watching a replay of the match on bein3. At the 33min:10 sec mark, N.Hanigan completely misses a one-on-one tackle on the Welsh right winger. But give him credit, about the 60th minute he made up for that miss with a great cover tackle on the Welsh #7 on their right sideline, which stopped a promising raid . I would agree with everyone else here that Ned played by far his best game. This consensus is mainly because he now runs low with the ball into the tackle and goes to ground immediately, so we see less of him being "rag-dolled" backwards or held up in the maul. So although he makes zero metres the WB suck in tacklers and keep the ball. Hanigan is a decent low tackler, decent in the lineouts So even though other parts of his game are abysmal, the bloke is listening and reducing his weaknesses so he has improved, and gives his all for the whole 80 minutes (though he was subbed at 63 mins in the Wales game). I just don't see Ned as an international quality blindside, but with so many blokes down wounded, it seems he fits the criteria and game plan required by the coach(s). And I'm not convinced that M.Cheika is wedded to Ned as many think. At present if everyone is fit, I think he is 3rd choice blindside. After all once Jack Dempsey and L.Tui got match fit in the RC2017, Cheika was quick to drop Ned right out of the 23. Next year with a greater choice of fit blindsides and locks, plus some newcomers like Rob Valetini.
piru
Roar Rookie
1895 - 2017 = 122yrs
Hoppers
Guest
You mean aside from the 150 or so years it's been around. I'm no fan of RL, but just sayin...
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
A few tackles? Didn't he make 2 less than Hoops? It was a pretty high number, and he was making them one after the other. That sort of Defense is missing from the Center Channel.
PiratesRugby
Guest
But Jackson and Gardner are from the SH, aren't they?
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Dempsey played 52 minutes of SR this year and got a starting 6. The bar is set pretty low. Would probably put Big dog (Ben) at 8 for his Scrum Control and Slide Mad Dog (Seany) out to 6. Or A hybrid: Seany at 8 for a defending Scrum for the Pooper Defence with the roles reversing in a Attacking Scrum.
PiratesRugby
Guest
But to be clear, Hooper backed himself on the burst from about 15m out. Good try, I say. Hodge is a good finisher but Hooper saw a decent opportunity and executed. Can't criticise him for that. Arguably Hodge was in a better position, if the pass was good, and Hodge held onto it. Hooper made the right decision. I can understand that may have placed him in unfamiliar territory.
Footballer
Guest
Yes. Brilliant. And yes, Hunt out.. He's nowhere near being an international 12.. What did anyone expect?
Fionn
Guest
No, to make the right decision and pass the ball to the open player outside of him with a clear run to the line rather than trying to break through two defenders. It worked out fine in the end, but if you have that exact same situation 10 times then passing rather than running it yourself is the better percentage play. The fact that Hooper did successfully score doesn't change this.
PiratesRugby
Guest
When will you realise that about Cheika?
PiratesRugby
Guest
Don't we put up Hooper's lack of presence at the ruck because of his 'linking' ability? If Pocock had done the same thing he would have been criticised for lacking passing skills.
PiratesRugby
Guest
TonyH, are trying to jinx us?
PiratesRugby
Guest
Unlike AFL where the umpire blows his whistle so much they need more than one.
ToneLoc
Guest
Can someone explain the fuss around Hunt? He threw one good pass against Italy and made a few tackles but was also at the centre of a simple break that let Italy score a 50m try. Not seen enough to convince that he is someone to rush back in. Best option is to put Beale at 12, Hodgs at 15 and Speight on the wing
englishbob
Guest
Hanigan not withstanding I thought the wallabies turned in a largely professional dispatching of a mediocre welsh outfit. Wales apart from Liam Williams offered so very little in attack compared with the SH sides that aus have been playing recently that the wallabies didn't need to go all out to win like they did against NZ because they know that wales were going to cough the ball up and give them chances. So all in all I don't know what you can learn from this other than Australia are much better than a team much lower in the rankings than them. Cant wait for next week!
alstatz
Guest
Does anyone have any thoughts on the new rules at the breakdown? Did the WBs adjust?
Reverse Wheel
Guest
Strange that wales rush defense was so disciplined to never be offside, given what a rush defense is....
London Waratah
Guest
Yes... his 5 points were a massive pain in the arse.
London Waratah
Guest
League won't live long buddy. I played it first as a kid, for a few years. It was boring as! Hit-up after hit-up...then kick. The only good thing about league was 13 men left alittle more space but it was never used due to the meat-head 5 hit-ups. So brain-dead a version of rugby...but supre-easy to understand :/