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AUS vs WAL
International Men's Rugby
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Australia
vs
Wales
36
FT
28
Action
Lineups
All
Facts Only
All
Full-Time: 36 - 28
That is all for now from Melbourne. The Wallabies continue the Southern Hemisphere dominance! For now, this is Nicholas Friedlander signing out.
Wales losing run continues, though that doesn't tell the full story. Though they definitely deserved to lose, the performance came with plenty of positives. They quite easily could have caved to a soft season-ending defeat, but they managed to keep in touch, and gave themselves the chance to win it late on. Dewi Lake led from the front, not only with his couple of tries, but also with his all-round play. Cameron Winnett was very tidy at fullback, and looks to be a man worth sticking with, as he consistently defused the high ball. They finish their season with a tour game against the Reds next week.
The Schmidt era continues its perfect start, with Wales probably a good level of opposition for the talented coach to lay out his gameplan. Australia played well, but were punished for their errors, and of particular concern was their maul defence. Both are things they'll need to stamp out when they meet tougher tests later in the year, but this series has been a success. Gordon was good, though faded late, with Josh Flook arguably the most influential back by full-time. He is a steady hand in the midfield, and looks to have the 13 jersey for the time being. Up front, Rob Valetini really fronted up, showing why he is one of the best in the world. Georgia await next week.
Australia get the job done but the scoreboard doesn't really tell the story. Australia dominated from the minute go, but in a game full of unforced errors, they could not shake a young Welsh side off. They threatened to pull away, but Wales hung in, initially through their rolling maul, before finishing off a couple of nice tries in the second half. They might have even stolen it late, but they failed to execute their usually secure lineout, denying them what would have been an almighty burglary. Australia eventually settled it with a Donaldson penalty, but even that they seemed to be reluctant to take! An entertaining test match, though certainly not a top-tier one.
80'
Big scrum from Australia, and they win a penalty! With time up and the game safe, they are happy to tap it and put it over the sideline, they get the job done.
79'
A woeful pass from Hardy is spilt from Costelow, and that might just about do us. Scrum Australia as the clock ticks down.
78'
Wright collects the restart, working just outside the 22. After going out left, White box kicked long, finding Winnett who freed it up for a flying Costellow. He finds contact on the 10m line.
78'
Donaldson bangs it over from 25m out in front.
36-28 B. Donaldson
Penalty
78'