Australia: Steal win from Wales
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Australia's replacement pivot Mike Harris killed off Wales' hopes of keeping their Test series alive after slotting a last-gasp penalty kick to steal a 25-23 win in Melbourne.
It was a sad case of close but no cigar for the Welsh who came within seconds of winning Down Under for the first time in 43 years and set up a series decider.
However, Harris - on for Berrick Barnes - was called upon to provide the killer blow for the Wallabies after a maul was ruled to have been dragged down and Australia's New Zealand-born super sub didn't disappoint.
The defeat left a devasted Wales outfit once again reflecting on a golden chance gone begging in a thrilling encounter that saw the lead change hands nine times as the match went down to the wire.
The visitors showed their trademark fighting spirit at Etihad Stadium but the loss meant a series victory for Australia, who took out the first Test in Brisbane last week.
Wales got off to a the perfect start, launching a sustained attack after just three minutes which ended when wing George North side-stepped past Wycliff Palu and Rob Simmons to touch down.
Leigh Halfpenny kicked the easy conversion but the hosts went on to have the better of the half and Barnes kicked a pair of penalties to reduce their deficit to 7-6.
The diminuitive fly-half then made a crucial break on the stroke of half-time after slicing through a large gap between Sam Warburton and Ashley Beck, before coolly finding Rob Horne on his shoulder and the centre cruised over the line.
Barnes added the extras to make it a seven-pointer and the Welsh trailed 13-7 at the break.
However, the tourists once again started the better of the two sides after Ashley Beck and Jonathan Davies combined to show off their soccer skills by hacking the ball downfield when Will Genia's pass went astray.
Beck hit the deck, but Davies got a favourable bounce and calmly collected the ball near the line to score. Halfpenny once again added the extras and Wales were back in front (13-14).
Barnes booted a pair of three-pointers either side of a Halfpenny penalty and Australia were clinging to a 19-17 lead, but they then lost wing Cooper Vuna to the sin-bin for tackling Halfpenny in the air.
The Welsh full-back kicked the resulting penalty to put his side up 20-19 but the Wallabies went straight onto the attack and Barnes made it 22-20 when Wales infringed at a ruck.
The see-saw battle continied when the reliable Halfpenny was on target once again when Ben Alexander was penalised at a scrum 13 minutes from time before Barnes - who had been struggling with a leg injury - then put a kick wide of the posts with six minutes left.
But the Wallabies got another chance when, with the 80 minutes having elapsed, Richard Hibbard infringed at a driving maul, and Harris calmly stepped up to drill a tricky penalty straight through the uprights.
Man of the match: For Wales, Leigh Halfpenny kept his side in the hunt thanks to a flawless kicking display and perhaps would've been awarded this gong had Wales won. However, the official man of the match award went to new dad Berrick Barnes and it's hard to argue against it. Australia's number ten set up the Wallabies' only try of the match and contributed 17 points before being replaced.
Moment of the match: We're pretty sure every pub in Wales now have a picture of Mike Harris on the bullseye of their dartboards following the replacement's match-winning kick in extra time.
Villain of the match: Mike Harris - we were looking forward to seeing the series head into a decider next weekend! But we won't hold it against you... too much.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Try: Horne
Con: Barnes
Pens: Barnes 5, Harris
For Wales:
Tries: North, Davies
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 3
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nic White, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Mike Harris.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
By Dave Morris
Comments
startledwombat says...
@Trader2
very good comment about the welsh kicking the ball away:
"Wales lost this game at 78:30mins. TVaddict bemoaned the Welsh kicking to the Wannabie back three but the ref called "advantage over" and really the receiver had to kick as nothing else was on. The mistake was not taking the scrum for the Wannabie knockon seconds earlier."
... I must admit that from how I was seeing the play, the other possibility was simply taking the man on and going to ground in the tackle. There was sufficient Welsh defence coming in at speed to be able to provide cover.
Mind you, there's a big difference between seeing the game in front of you in a grandstand or on TV, and being out there with it all happening around you.
Have you noticed that shouting "swing it wide - wide!!" to the TV almost never works?
Posted 00:30 17th June 2012
curlymac says...
Wales deserved to lose this game. To kick away the ball and control of the game in the final 2 mins was a brain explosion and shows they lack class and any mental understanding of how to win. all they needed to do was hold on to the ball and they choose to do the opposite, they are complete dunderheads!!!!
Posted 23:52 16th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@Mayhem, it is a pleasure to meet you and all rugby supporters who don't resort to calling the ref a cheat when they lose. More power to Wales. May you return to the glories of the 70s when you were the best in the world. There are ignorant prats from all sides including (or should I say especially?) South Africa where I hail from.
Posted 23:22 16th June 2012
pierredelot1 says...
How is it that New Zealand produce great players and ordinary referees. In the second half the welsh set was shunting back the Aussie scrum who then tried to wheel it or one or more broke off. The law is quite simple all eight must be bound in until the ball exits the scrum. Mr Pocock obviously doesn't know that one and more importantly the referee didn't either. What is particularly annoying about the binding on is that it was introduced by the Southern Hemisphere to prevent the likes of players such as Dean Richards, from leaning on the back with their heads in the air to see what was going on. Seems now that Deano doesn't play at this level any more it's all OK. Failing to keep eight bound in, releases players to defend illegally and cuts down the available space to play in. It's about time referees began to bang it a bit more often.
Posted 22:52 16th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@Rodgerthedog apologies for collateral damage, but there must be at least one dark ignorant valley, or else where did he come from?
Posted 22:05 16th June 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
I don't think Fish was that out of line. Actually I think he's the Cods Pollocks.
Posted 21:48 16th June 2012
Mayhem says...
@eccles, your dog made a valid point, more than most on here ;).
@new -j4a, As a Welshman, another performance, another loss. No complaints tho, we only have ourselves to blame, we effectively gave the game to the Aussies, and they took it. Thought the ref was good generally, some of us in those dark valleys can still be objective and take defeat on the chin ya know! ;)
Posted 21:32 16th June 2012
Rodgerthedog says...
@new_j4a ps there are no Dark Ignorant Valleys in Wales, just Valleys...,
Posted 21:05 16th June 2012
Rodgerthedog says...
I'm pushing for a fourth page that way @new_j4a will be able to write another huge comment (mine only allows 1900 characters, he must have paid PR!).
Anyway back to the thread, Tupric and Hook should have come on the last 10 mins, BDavies was fooked and we needed the ball up our jumpers.
Posted 20:53 16th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@jon the wannabe ref (nothing Oz, refers just to your Walter Mitty like belief that you are a ref....which given your lack of knowledge of the Laws and inability to communicate can not possibly be true....even in darkest most ignorant valley in Wales) Now, I am not an Oz supporter. I support good rugby everywhere and abhor whinging supporters of any team who come on here with vague claims that the ref was biased or incompetent when you know nothing of the Laws. I particularly dislike people who pretend to be qualified to comment, as you do with your choice of name. You are clearly not a ref...or at least I shall assume that you are not as long as you refuse to explain those of your statements that can be deciphered by English speakers. So, exactly what was wrong with the decisions in minute 74 of the first Oz vs Wales test? I don't expect you to be able to explain even what you meant to say with this jumble of words: ""Knock off halfpenny's head, when he though it was a Aus knock on, then Wales, the guy is obviously too caught up in himself to do it. " For this you need professional help.
My credentials are not the issue here. I am confident in my knowledge of the Laws and my ability to seek guidance from more qualified refs when an issue is ambiguous. The kind of issues that get raised here are not deep Law testing issues, but simple everyday issues that refs make decisions on in their sleep and that you clearly don't understand.....
Posted 20:20 16th June 2012
ShamanSheep says...
@eccles
hahaha - once we get to the third page of a message board it's usually all nasty nonsense, so give the dog a biscuit for providing some humour
Posted 19:45 16th June 2012
Sssnake says...
I reckon FISH is a right Pollock. Oh wasn't he Australia's ref today?
Posted 19:06 16th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@hayj05, Steady on there. FISH is not a Saffa. We have our own idiots (in abundance) and don't need to take the blame for Oz trolls
Posted 18:46 16th June 2012
eccles says...
I apologise for the "a". The dog did it, and although border collies are very smart, they know bugger all about rugby.
Posted 18:31 16th June 2012
jontheref says...
@new_j4A
Is that a new log in?
justice 4 all or something?
The ed has told you to stop being a naughty boy, so go off and take your meds!
As I don't support the Aus team, like you obviously do, stop answering my posts with Aussie nicknames.
So you are qualified, pray tell us what grade you ref, advise refs on, or act as a citing officer, or even coach, as coaches have some knowledge of the laws, so we can see how you are qualified.
You started this, so put up or shut up!
Posted 18:26 16th June 2012
Rodgerthedog says...
Wales lost composure when it mattered, its the stuff the players do week in week out in the Rabo. It's great experience and loosing tight games hurts. Showed that they could take the Aussies on and make space. Bring it on next week. Ps FISH is a bell.
Posted 17:56 16th June 2012
rico says...
Lydiate red card jokers - get real it's a contact sport, numpties.
Posted 16:20 16th June 2012
TVaddict says...
@FISH
Your an idiot. You've never said anything of any interest, so my guess is that you only comment on here to try and annoy people. So pathetic.
@At everyone who isn't FISH
He's just trying to get you all irritated. If you look at recent articles you'll see on pretty much every one he just says some ridiculous and ignorant comment to try and get your attention. Don't give him the satisfaction of replying to him. It we ignore him long enough maybe he'll actually develop into a real person.
Posted 16:02 16th June 2012
eccles says...
Well played Wales. It was a game that could and should have been won, given that nearly half of the Wallabies run-on squad were Waratahs "players". If Mr. Barnes was the man-of-the-match then every other player must have been bloody awful. He kicked goals - big deal. With no wind to contend with, so could any other average club kicker. He set up a try; he also set up Wales' first try with his patented move, missing the marked bit of the paddock altogether. Palu was ineffective, and the only difference between a front row of Robertson, Palota-Nau and Kepu, and the Brumbies Alexander,Moore and Palmer is that the Brumbies trio are used to winning. Bring on an independent Australian Rugby Commission, get rid of the NSW dominance at management level, and Australian rugby might finally move forward instead of marking time.
Posted 15:38 16th June 2012
zambokke says...
Wales are great at marginally losing yet talking of how they should have won or how great they are. How many games have you lost during and since the RWC? There is no denying that they are a good side - their IRB ranking of 5th is proof to this. They really need to learn how to win close games if they are to give spiel like the ABs, Aust. and SA. I feel though that they will wine the final game, now that the pressure is off.
Posted 15:32 16th June 2012