Wallabies run riot in EIGHT-TRY victory over Wales as pressure mounts on Warren Gatland
The Wallabies were in excellent form on Sunday as they ran in eight tries in an utterly dominant 52-20 win over Wales that piles the pressure on head coach Warren Gatland.
A hat-trick apiece from Tom Wright and Matt Faessler and further tries from Nick Frost and Len Ikitau saw Australia thump the struggling Welsh at the Principality Stadium.
Noah Lolesio slotted over six conversions to Australia‘s tally as their Autumn Nations Series campaign is going from strength to strength under head coach Joe Schmidt.
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It was a first half of two quarters in Cardiff as Australia enjoyed an impressive opening but Wales, to their credit, recovered to head into the interval just six points off the pace.
Indeed, the visitors were brilliant as they built themselves a healthy 19-0 cushion by 22 minutes as New Zealander Schmidt appears to have rediscovered the Wallabies’ DNA.
They were almost off the mark on 10 minutes when Wright found an edge before Max Jorgensen offloaded to Samu Kerevi but he was denied by a great Tom Rogers tackle.
It only delayed Australia though as sustained pressure in the Welsh 22 saw them come right and full-back Wright slipped through the net to make it a 5-0 buffer for his team.
A handling error from Wales on halfway then saw impressive Wallabies lock Frost run over from distance, with Lolesio on target this time to extend the gap to 12 points.
Schmidt’s charges were now purring and a lineout drive resulted in their third try of the night as hooker Faessler crashed over and with the conversion it was a 19-0 margin.
The hosts needed a miracle as they were staring down the barrel of a horror result and somehow they found it with Aaron Wainwright scoring from close range on 25 minutes.
Gareth Anscombe would then further chip away at the lead with two penalties before the break, with the margin now very much within reach as the sides took a breather.
Wales were given a further boost soon after the turnaround when Kerevi was shown a yellow card that was later upgraded to red for making head contact with Jac Morgan.
However, their numerical advantage did not have the desired effect as it was in fact the Wallabies who struck first in the second stanza as a dominant driving maul from the visitors saw Faessler crash over to grab his second try of the game on 47 minutes. Lolesio was off-target with the conversion attempt which meant it was a 26-13 cushion.
Incredibly the Wallabies seemed inspired by Kerevi’s red card and were over again on 52 minutes when Faessler broke off another maul and barged over to make it 33-13.
The Welsh needed a miracle as time ticked down before Australia could replace Kerevi and they were unfortunately denied a James Botham crossing due to a forward pass.
That near miss for Wales would be compounded on the hour mark when a rapid Wright intercepted a Sam Costelow pass before cruising over from distance to make it 40-13.
Centre Ben Thomas did at least give those wearing red in the Principality Stadium something to cheer on 68 minutes when he crashed over after running a smart line.
But it brought smiles that were short-lived as the classy Wallabies grabbed try number seven with five minutes remaining as Ikitau stepped and cantered over with ease.
The agony was still not over for Wales, however, as there was still time for a second Wallaby to claim his hat-trick as Wright put the gloss on a handsome win in Cardiff.
In contrast, the pressure is now mounting on Wales head coach Gatland after an 11th successive loss on the international stage with the Springboks coming next weekend.
The teams
Wales:?15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c) 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:?16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Eddie James
Australia:?15? ?Tom Wright, 14? ?Andrew Kellaway, 13? ? Len Ikitau, 12? ? Samu Kerevi, 11? Max Jorgensen, 10? ?Noah Lolesio, 9? ?Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7? ?Fraser McReight, 6? ?Seru Uru, 5? ?Will Skelton, 4? ?Nick Frost, 3? ?Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2? ?Matt Faessler, 1? ?Angus Bell
Replacements:?16???Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17???James Slipper, 18???Zane Nonggorr, 19???Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20???Langi Gleeson, 21???Tate McDermott, 22???Ben Donaldson, 23? Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii
Referee:?James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:?Karl Dickson (England), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO:?Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)