Wallabies starting to click, but harder tests than an abject Wales team await
analysis
SBy Simon Smale
Topic:Rugby Union
Len Ikitau caused Cameron Winnett to tie himself in knots.
It may be suggested that there was a degree of revenge in the air in Cardiff.
That may have been how supporters saw it at least.
But for the Wallabies, a thoroughly professional, albeit emphatic 52-20 victory in Cardiff over the team that destroyed their World Cup hopes a year ago, felt different.
This is not a team that wastes time looking backwards. This felt just like another step on the path forward to where they want to be.
The events of September 25, 2023, are indelibly inked into the memory of most Wallabies fans.
Those who braved an overnight wake up were left absently staring into the void following an embarrassing defeat that all but ended their Rugby World Cup hopes — so were the players, for that matter.
That 40-6 humiliation in Lyon seemed to speak not just of the malaise that was suffocating the squad under Eddie Jones, but was symbolic of the trajectory the sport appeared to be plummeting towards.
Oh, what difference 14 months makes.
Wales, embattled at administrative level, facing mutiny from its clubs and left with a dearth of talent that would have some of the nation's favourite sons spinning in their graves, are at the lowest of low ebbs.
This team is rebuilding, that much is clear.
The three Wales players in picture have just 17 Test caps in total.
Just two players in Wales' match day squad had played over 50 Tests and the most experienced of them, Adam Beard, left the contest inside 10 minutes with an injury.
Wales had just 226 caps-worth of experience in their starting XV. The Wallabies had more than double that, at 503.
Harsh as it is to say, having lost its 11th-straight Test match, this is officially Wales worst ever team.
It has been 87 years since Wales failed to win a single rugby union Test in a calendar year.
With the world champion Springboks due next week, at a Principality stadium where the atmosphere is increasingly frosty, 2024 appears set to join 1937 as a year that Welsh rugby would rather forget ever happened.
This is the backdrop against which this Wallabies victory needs to be taken.
A record points score in Cardiff cannot be sniffed at, no matter the standard of the opposition.
What fans can take from it though, watching bleary-eyed in the early-hours of the morning or as one of the hundreds who were in attendance at the Principality Stadium, is that the Wallabies stared down the tag of favouritism, and more than lived up to the bill.
Noah Lolesio pulled the strings for the Wallabies.
The Wallabies opening try was typical of how Joe Schmidt wants his team to play.
The patience during the build up, working their way through multiple phases without a hint of panic, spoke of a team completely at ease with what they are hoping to achieve.
By committing bodies into the breakdown no matter what number appears on the back of their shirt, Nic White was delivered quick ball that kept the Welsh on the back foot.
Individual moments of brilliance aside, such as Tom Wright's athleticism to win the ball in the air from kick off that gave the Australia possession in the first place, the Wallabies just did the simple things right.
Then, once the trap was set, out came the dagger.
Fluid back line moves anchored by a purposely static Noah Lolesio had the Welsh defence guessing.
Then, when Noah Lolesio took the ball in motion, it only took a step from Wright to open up the gap and for the fullback to score the first of his three tries.
Nick Frost's remarkable 50-metre burst for the Wallabies second highlighted the adventure this Wallabies team is willing to embark upon, moving the ball wide early and having the numbers on hand after a gorgeous flick pass sprung the trap.
Nick Frost raced 50 metres to score.
Sure, the 206cm-tall lock may have galloped down the wing with all the grace of a charging giraffe, but the very fact he was able and willing to be there in the first place speaks to the increased confidence this team are playing with.
The third try was as illustrative of where the Welsh are as the Wallabies, the first of three tries from rolling mauls finished off by Matt Faessler.
"That's normally our game," Wales skipper Dewi Lake told S4C after the match.
"They've stopped our mauls and scored three of their own and that's just not good enough."
Three very different tries. Three indications that the Wallabies are on the right track.
Those tries may have illustrated the way the Wallabies want to play, but Len Ikitau's score, when he couldn't have bamboozled poor Cameron Winnett more if he had tied his boot laces together.
As good as all that was though, the clearest indication that the Wallabies are on track was their response to the send off from Samu Kerevi.
Coming so soon after half time, with Wales having just enjoyed their best spell of the match heading into the break, such a set back could have seriously derailed the Wallabies.
Tom Wright scored the Wallabies opening try.
Instead, they scored 21-unanswered points while down a man.
No wonder the Welsh fans started heading towards the exits, stopping briefly only to pour scorn onto a team they see as befouling a cherished institution.
Kerevi's send off meant a shift in plan from Schmidt, and a later than hoped for introduction for Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i, who was very much a willing participant during his brief cameo, linking wonderfully with Len Ikitau in attack.
However, in his eagerness to get involved the centre got caught making a shoulder only tackle that was not spotted by the officials, and was then too high when attempting to stop Ben Thomas scoring his consolation try.
Small issues, sure. But bigger tests are rapidly approaching in which small errors can be costly.
The Wallabies are half way to a hugely unexpected grand slam in this spring tour.
But with objectively the two easiest opponents out of the way, things are about to get a lot more serious against Scotland and Ireland.
"I have no doubt we need to go up another gear against Scotland," Schmidt told Stan Sport after the match in Cardiff about the Wallabies' next trip, to Murrayfield and a date with Scotland.
"We feel like we're slowly building our game. We're not there yet. But we'll aim to be competitive."
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