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Live Commentary
Time:80'- Wales
- Australia
79' Aussies knock on at line out and Wales have one last chance. Ball is moved wide but Aussie defence covers and ref blows for full-time. 32-20 to Australia, who win well. Wales played better in the second half but the result was never in doubt. It now looks almost certain Wales will face South Africa in the quarter-finals and Austalia will play England, maybe!- 78' Excellent play again from Wales and Shane Williams is clear on the right but Aussie defence just holds on! Australia awarded scrum on their 22m line and clear the pressure.
- 77' Wales at least finishing the game strongly and they can take some consolation from their second-half performance. Can they score again and gain a bonus point?
77' Hook makes it 32-20 as Mitchell comes back on.
75' Wales win scrum and press Australia line, Giteau tries to intercept before Shane Williams finally scuttles over on the right. 32-18.
74' Hook tries to make ground but Waugh nicks the ball. Wales wins it back and Shane Williams makes room for Shanklin on the right. This is better from Wales. Ref awards penalty for offside, Phillips goes close, then Charvis is held up and Wales win a penalty. Sharpe is then yellow carded for lying on the ball!!- 72' Latham finds a huge touch to clear the pressure.
70' Mike Phillips on for Peel. Wales have now used all of their bench.- 69' Peel nicks the ball at base of Aussie scrum, wins penalty and Williams takes a quick tap. Wales pressing on the Wallabies 22m line but their defence holds firm and they win a scrum.
- 68' Freier on for Moore.
- 67' Wales concede penalty at the scrum and lose good attacking position.
- 66' Duncan Jones on for Adam Jones, Michael Owen for Ian Gough and Rhys Thomas for Matthew Rees.
- 66' Nice play from Peel but he cannot find Shane Williams but ref calls them back for a spear tackle. Mitchell on Rees and yellow card for Mitchell!! Wales have the penalty and an extra man as they opt for the scrum.
- 63' Waugh on for Smith.
63' Palu bursts clear on the left and Mitchell almost clear. Good tackle from Morgan allows Shane Williams to clear the lines. Gorgeous passing from Austalia!- 61' Giteau makes it 32-13. What an error from Stephen Jones! Quite likely all over for Wales now!
- 60' Latham puts up a bomb, Stephen Jones completely misses it and the Aussie full-back takes a good bounce and cruises over! 30-13.
- 57' Shepherdson penalised for taking scrum down and penalty Wales just inside Aussie half. Big kick from Hook but it's just short. Never quite made the right contact. Got underneath it a little.
- 55' Good hit from Jenkins on Tuqiri helps Wales to force turnover. Jones chips ahead but ref calls them back for scrum to Wales.
- 52' Scrum Wales in good attacking position on Aussie 22m line, slightly right of the posts. Ref awards penalty and Hook kicks the three points. 25-13 and Wales gradually clawing back. More of this and the Aussies will start to get nervous!
- 51' Australia pressing again and keeping the ball alive in the tackle. Big hit by Popham on Tuqiri and the ball is spilled. Wales kick up field but very late tackle from Latham on Shane Williams - he knew there was nobody at fullback and deserves a yellow. But he's let him off! Ref Walsh perhaps making amends for his earlier ruling for Thomas late tackle. Wales kick deep into Aussie half.
- 49' Giteau misses and another let off for Wales. Bad miss - lazy effort from the normally reliable Giteau.
- 47' Great take from Alun Wyn Jones at the line-out but Sharpe changes down Peel, Smith through the middle and Wales forced to drive Australia into touch on their own line. But Wales concede penalty for offside.
- 46' Hook makes it 25-10. Come on Wales - more of that needed!
- 45' Finally Wales force a penalty and Stephen Jones kicks for the corner. Wales must get and early score and get the crowd behind them. They win their throw and drive at the Aussie line, Stephen Jones tries to find a gap, Hook cuts inside at gets to within a metre of the line, Charvis held up but Jonathan Thomas scores from the next drive!! 25-8. Well played Wales, that's more like it!
- 42' Williams creates some broken play for Wales but they pass the ball in a line until Mark Jone is bundled into touch. Rubbish! Absolue waste of time! Wales are better than this!
- 41' Scott Staniforth on at centre for Mortlock.
41' Wales must try and forget about the first half as they restart the game through Stephen Jones.- 41' Ref blows for half-time and Australia coach John Connolly will be very satisfied with an excellent first half from his side. They are, quite simply, too slick and too powerful for the Welsh! Wales coach Gareth Jenkins will have to rally his troops but not sure there is much he can say. They are just not as good as their opponents!
- 41' Mortlock adds to Wales' agony with superb kick from the touchline to make it 25-3.
- 40' Attacking scrum now for Australia who are looking to score again before half-time. Palu breaks, feeds Smith, the ball is fed wide to Mitchell and Latham is finally over in the left corner. Wonderful play from the Aussies. 23-3.
- 37' Australia nick line-out but Moore knocks on to give Wales attacking scrum. Ball is spread wide but long pass from Hook misses the man and goes directly into touch! Wales look worried about Australia's power in midfield!
- 35' Mortlock not looking comfortable after scoring try but he stays on.
- 35' Big tackle from Shanklin in midfield forces turnover but Aussies pinch it back, Dunning goes down to recover the ball, feeds Gregan who produces a delightful chip for Mortlock to gather and go over in the corner. 18-3.
- 32' Penalty chance for Wales after Moore caught off side. Jones needs to kick this one but again it's wide. That's two misses now from Jones!!
- 31' Australia kick for touch but concede penalty for Vickerman jumping across at the line-out.
- 30' Another penalty against Wales for holding on. Superb technique from George Smith!
- 27' Wales give away penalty for holding on and Mortlock just wide with his kick at goal. Let off for Wales. had they gone 16-3 down then they really would have been chasing the game!!
- 24' Mark Jones given a little space on the left wing but Aussies cover well. Australia winning the physical challenges and Wales need to try and do something unorthodox if they are going to get back into the game!
- 23' Hook on for the injured Thomas.
- 23' Barnes makes the most of powerful Aussie driving and slots a drop goal! 13-3.
20' Wales win free kick for Australia driving too early at the scrum. Thomas is down now after a huge hit from Stirling Mortlock. Tit for tat maybe? Thomas is off!- 19' High ball from Jones but Latham takes is superbly, but Australia kick too long and Wales get line-out back just inside Wallabies half.
- 19' Morgan on at full-back at Gareth Thomas moved to centre.
- 18' Parker turned over and Wales concede penalty, but Latham's touch finder goes long and Wales are let off. Meanwhile, Parker is down and now stretchered off.
- 17' Big clash in the air between Latham and Thomas and Wales win a scrum for a knock on.
- 16' Mortlock makes it 10-3.
- 16' Thomas is in trouble for a dirty late challenge on Barnes. Lucky not to get a yellow card!
- 16' Long kick from Latham and Australia testing Wales defence now. Barnes goes through the middle before finding Giteau on his shoulder for the opening try! 5-0 Australia.
- 14' Good defence by both sides forcing two turnovers. Great hit by Popham on Elsom!!!!
- 13' Tricky kick from Australia and Shanklin very cool to touch ball down for a 22m drop out. Ref Walsh surprisingly goes to the video man to confirm whether the ball was grounded correctly. Strange decision by the ref!!!
- 11' Australia concede another penalty for playing the ball off their feet and another kickable chance for Wales. But Jones pushes the ball right of the posts. Missed chance!!!
- 10' Wales turn over the ball and spread it to Thomas out wide who finds a reasonable touch in the Aussie half.
- 9' Dancing feet from Shane Williams allows Wales to clear the pressure from deep inside their 22m area. Aussie pack looking good but Wales also seem up for this game.
- 8' Tuqiri nearly through from an inside pass but ball is spilled and Wales spread it wide to Shane Williams and the wing is tackled into touch.
- 7' Wales win penalty from line-out and Jones kicks them level at 3-3.
- 4' First scrum of the game with Wales put in and they win a free-kick which Peel takes quickly, he finds Williams who chips through. Barnes fails to find touch and Thomas kicks deep, a slip from Mitchell allows line-out to Wales on Aussie 22m line.
- 3' Nice clearance from Barnes and good first touch for the young playmaker.
- 2' Mortlock on target gives Australia an early 3-0 lead.
1' Australia get the game underway and almost immediately the Welsh give away a penalty in kicking distance.- - Wales have done well against the Wallabies at this venue in recent years and will be confident they can give their opponents a good run for their money. Stephen Jones starts at fly-half in place of James Hook, skipper Gareth Thomas is at full-back and Colin Charvis on the flank, with Alix Popham dropping to the bench and Jonathan Thomas starting at number eight. Australia are without the injured Stephen Larkham and Berrick Barnes starts at fly-half.
- So here it is, the big clash of Pool B between group favourites Australia and Wales from the Millennium Stadium. There is a great atmosphere in Cardiff and it promises to be a tremendous occasion. Can Wales produce a performance to be proud of and give themselves the chance of a decent quarter-final draw?
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Summary
Wales versus Australia Thomas 45’, Williams 76’ Tries Giteau 16’, Mortlock 34’, Latham 40’, 60’ Hook 46’, 77’ Conversions Giteau 16’, 62’, Mortlock 40’ Jones 6’, Hook 54’ Penalties Mortlock 2’ Drops Barnes 23’
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Steve Walsh
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WalesManager: Gareth Jenkins
On the Field
- Jenkins
- Rees
- Jones
- Gough
- Jones
- Charvis
- Williams
- Thomas
- Peel
- Jones
- Williams
- Parker
- Shanklin
- Jones
- Thomas
Subs
- Popham
- Owen
- Morgan
- Jones
- Phillips
- Thomas
- Hook
Injured
None
Suspended
None
- Jenkins
-
AustraliaManager: John Conolly
On the Field
- Dunning
- Moore
- Sheperdson
- Sharpe
- Vickerman
- Elsom
- Smith
- Palu
- Gregan
- Barnes
- Tuqiri
- Giteau
- Mortlock
- Mitchell
- Latham ×2
Subs
- Waugh
- Baxter
- Staniforth
- Huxley
- Freier
- Chisholm
- Hoiles
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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