The Wallabies kept their Grand Slam dream alive after not only surviving a second-half red card, but surging ahead when down a man, and scoring a record 52-20 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
Hooker Matt Faessler and man of the match Tom Wright both scored hat-tricks in an eight-try blow-out win over the Welsh, which was home side’s 11th defeat in a row.
Tom Wright scores one of three tries.Credit: Getty Images
The defeat gave the current Wales team the dubious honour of the most consecutive losses, and Australia added another record to rub salt in the wound by scoring their most points in Wales.
Remarkably, the victory was sealed in a period when the Wallabies were down a man following a red card for centre Samu Kerevi early in the second half.
Australia had looked like they would win comfortably when they raced out to a 19-0 win early, but Wales surged back to only trail by six at half-time. And when Kerevi was sent off for a high shot, the Welsh crowd surged with energy.
Rob Valetini struggles to make headway against Wales’ defence.Credit: Getty Images
But the Wallabies forwards stood up and in the 20-minute period that Kerevi was off, Australia scored three tries – two to Faessler from powerhouse rolling mauls, fuelled by the addition of Will Skelton.
When the Wallabies returned to 15 men, the score had gone from 19-13 to 40-13 and the game was effectively in hand.
Where last week’s win over England was a thriller, the Wallabies’ win was earned via hard graft. The Australian lineout was also superb in the second half, repeatedly denying the Welsh any chance of getting back into the game.
Wright was rewarded for a fortnight of fine form, scoring the game’s opening try and also the last – and with a long-range intercept in between.
The Wallabies led 19-13 at halftime but they went into the sheds dispirited after racing out to a 19-0 lead before letting Wales back in the game.
Australia had all the territory and possession early in the game but last-pass mistakes delayed their points scoring, and so too the desperate try-saving tackle from Wales winger Tom Rogers that stopped Kerevi from scoring with an open line in front of him.
Tom Wright races away for a try in the first half.Credit: Getty Images
The Wallabies didn’t wait long to make up for it, though, when Wright scored an impressive solo try after some multi-phase attack in Wales’ half. After the ball was swung right, the ball was passed through Len Ikitau and Noah Lolesio before Wright then dummied, beat Blair Murray and scooted 20 metres to score.
The Wallabies scored another in the 16th minute when Wales coughed up the ball on the right edge, and Max Jorgensen picked it up and offloaded to Ikitau, who put a supporting Nick Frost into open space.
The tackle on Jac Morgan that landed Samu Kerevi in hot water.Credit: Getty Images
The 206cm lock then sprinted 50 metres to the line, showing the pace that once saw him the Australian under-15 pentathlon title as a junior athlete.
Australia kept up the pressure and turned down points to kick to the corner, and when Faessler scored a third try in the 21st minute, the air seemed to drain out of Wales’ fans.
But a shelled catch from Wright from the re-start gave Wales a toehold, finally, in Australia’s 22m and after some sustained attack, no.8 Aaron Wainwright powered over near the sticks.
The Wallabies’ scrum was beginning to get dominated and with Wales winning the battle of the air, too, the Welsh then kept up their momentum. Twice Australia were caught infringing in defence, and no.10 Gareth Anscombe nailed two penalties to draw within six.
Wales had their energy back, and the Wallabies began to find life tough against their strong defence around the ruck. The visitors had one last chance for points before halftime, but the Welsh defence held firm and the locals were up and about after the whistle went for oranges.
The second half started disastrously when Kerevi went looking for impact with a tackle and went too far, making head-on-head contact with Jac Morgan. He was yellow carded and it was later upgraded to red.
It didn’t seem to trouble the Wallabies, though, and they profited with a more conservative gameplan that saw them repeatedly maul the ball out of danger – and towards the Wales line.
In the 47th minute, a penalty was kicked to the corner and Faessler, on the tail, scored a second.
The Wallabies kept up the pressure and Faessler bagged his third in a similar fashion just four minutes later, when another Skelton-powered maul on the Wales’ line saw him break off and run over the Wales defence.
Wales, now 20 points down, were desperately trying to make use of their extra number in defence and appeared to have finally done so when James Botham scored, but the TMO found a forward pass and scrubbed it.
With their defensive lineout getting the Wallabies out of pressure in their quarter, the 14-man Wallabies scored again when Wright poached an intercept from 60 metres out in the 61st minute and scored a sixth try.
