There was a moment in Wales’ 24-19 loss to Fiji last week that must have caught the eye of the Wallabies.
In the 24th minute, Fijian Drua No.10 Caleb Muntz made a break out of nothing and raced towards the Welsh line.
Not only did he expose a lack of mobility among the Welsh tight forwards defending in the front line, he managed to carry both Wales fullback Cameron Winnett and left-winger Blair Murray over the line for an individual try.
By Test standards, it was a soft try to concede from 40m out in the 24th minute of the game. In particular, it highlighted how this Welsh backline has become far smaller and less experienced in less than 12 months.
None of Wales’ back three this weekend will be more than 90kg, and the starting backline has a total of 63 caps, 38 of them belonging to No.10 Gareth Anscombe.
While Wallabies supporters are understandably anxious about their team’s ability to back up last weekend’s brilliant win at Twickenham, the Welsh team they will face in Cardiff simply isn’t comparable to the one that thrashed them 40-6 at the Rugby World Cup last year.
The Wallabies will be hoping for further celebrations after playing Wales.Credit: AP
In Lyon, the Welsh backline was Gareth Davies, Dan Biggar, Josh Adams, Nick Tompkins, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit and Liam Williams. Seven of those blokes were British and Irish Lions.
In Cardiff, Wales’ backline will be Ellis Bevan, Anscombe, Murray, Ben Thomas, Max Llewellyn, Tom Rogers and Winnett. Some of them are still finding their feet in the United Rugby Championship.
At the risk of poking the dragon, it would be almost unforgivable for the Wallabies to blow a chance of a grand slam by losing to this Wales side after their efforts at Twickenham.
Wales do have some terrific players. Hooker Dewi Lake is well on his way to becoming world-class, if he isn’t already, while No.7 Jac Morgan is already surely deep in the plans of next year’s Lions coach, Andy Farrell.
Wales five-eighth Gareth Anscombe.Credit: Getty Images
But it is extremely difficult for two players to carry an entire side, and last week’s injuries to halfback Tomos Williams and big winger Mason Grady has robbed coach Warren Gatland of two more front-liners.
The Warren-ball era is long gone and even though Gatland does have one big body in the midfield in outside-centre Llewellyn, the 25-year-old isn’t in the same class as generational players such as Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies.
Playing inside the No.13, Ben Thomas has shown some decent signs as a second playmaker, but he too will be a target in defence after struggling with Fijian tank Josua Tuisova last week.
The Wallabies still have to get up again after the highs of Twickenham. That’s the big challenge for any team and one they failed miserably at in Argentina during the Rugby Championship.
But, you would hope the accumulated pain of years of underachievement and jokes at their expense is starting to build a deeper resilience. When the Wallabies won last week, they immediately made reference to derogatory comments aimed at them by former England and British and Irish Lions halfback Ben Youngs.
However, this was merely echoing a sentiment that has clearly been bubbling away among the Australian player base for quite some time.
When Rob Valetini won the John Eales Medal, he spoke of trying to put Australian rugby “in a better place”, and when the Junior Wallabies beat South Africa in May, captain Toby Macpherson hit the mic post-match to state: “We’re sick of being in the position we’re in.”
Something is building when you start hearing the same message at various levels of the game, and as a result, you wouldn’t expect the Wallabies to be particularly sympathetic to the Welsh.
The grand slam still looks like a devilishly difficult assignment, with the Scots and Irish to follow the Welsh at the end of a long year.
But the Welsh are at a particularly vulnerable point in their history, beset by financial issues off the field and now struggling to replace a generation of players on the field.
It’s a Test the Wallabies should win, and win well.
