Hook: Guided Wales to victory
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Six Nations champions Wales were made to work for an unconvincing 25-15 win over the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Tuesday.
In the only mid-week match of Wales' tour Down Under, the visitors held off a spirited Brumbies side that threatened a second-half comeback after trailing the Welsh 19-6 at half-time.
The Jake White-coached Brumbies managed to reduce the deficit to 19-15, but James Hook - who contributed 15 points for his team - struck two late penalties to give Wales their first victory of the tour.
The tourists made 14 changes from the side that lost to the Wallabies 27-19 in Saturday's first Test, and Hook was quickly to work in his favoured position as he crossed for an early try.
The Perpignan star then combined with Ashley Beck to send Justin Tipuric for another, and Wales looked comfortable in a 19-6 half-time lead once Alun Wyn Jones had barged over for a third.
The second half belonged to the Brumbies, and skipper Zac Holmes booted a trio of penalties that hauled the hosts to within four points.
But a pair of late Hook replies steadied the ship and ultimately secured Wales their second win over the Brumbies in four outings since 1978.
The scorers:
For Brumbies:
Pens: Holmes 5
For Wales:
Tries: Hook, Tipuric, A.Jones
Cons: Hook 2
Pens: Hook 2
Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Cam Crawford, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Kimami Sitauti, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Colby Faingaa, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Ben Hand (c), 4 Leon Power, 3 Scott Sio, 2 Anthony Hegarty, 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 JP Pradaud, 18 Dylan Sigg, 19 Fotu Auelua, 20 Beau Mokoputo, 21 Tom Cox, 22 Jesse Mogg.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Alex Cuthbert.
Referee: Ian Smith
Comments
jontheref says...
can't blame Gats for Delve living 24 hours from Tonna!
before he went to Aus, he did not get a run of games due to injury, maybe this will be his chance to impress.
Posted 18:15 13th June 2012
peterpump says...
@ brands
I mean the best Oz super 15 team!!
Posted 15:21 13th June 2012
jonesr19 says...
Nice to see Gareth Delve back in the fold. Lets hope he get a shot in the test team. As he has had a raw deal of Gatland so far....
Posted 13:11 13th June 2012
jontheref says...
BDAussie
Glad to see a sensible comment.
Midweek fixtures, down south during the season, usually mean very little.
When Aus brings a good squad up north, and play midweek, we have had some great games.
Aus v Ospreys springs to mind.
A good 2nd string Aus team, an Osprey team, minus test players, busting a gut.
Posted 08:15 13th June 2012
BDAUSSIE says...
These matches are nothing but glorified train runs. Often entertaining and competitive yes ,but you cant take much more from them. Two make shift, second string teams. A good hit out for the Welsh players though.
Posted 01:36 13th June 2012
brands says...
@ peterpump
best team in the super 15? your having a laugh!!
Posted 20:45 12th June 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
8 Walabies out and still in with a shout vs a strong Wales outfit fighting for places. Oh dear.
Posted 18:10 12th June 2012
Ulrich says...
Not quite the "best super 15" team. Best in Australia perhaps.
Posted 18:09 12th June 2012
bluechief says...
the heading of this article is ridiculous...
Posted 17:55 12th June 2012
NHsaints says...
This game was basically just most of the Osprey's and Scarlet's sides playing a second string Brumbies side...without any star players...and they sound kinda like they dominated it...3 tries to 0 and obviously taking their foot off the gas in the second 40...
Posted 15:28 12th June 2012
SkinnyProp says...
Perspective is an amazing thing isn't it? No mention here of Wales' dominance in the set piece or the fact that the Brumbies couldn't break through the defence.
PR - how come this match wasn't covered live in your 'min-by-min' segment?
Posted 15:11 12th June 2012
peterpump says...
Unconvincing win PR? Three tries to none,Wales 2nd team 25-15 win over there best super 15 team i think its a good result for Wales.
Posted 14:54 12th June 2012
jonesy2 says...
oh dear. that is a very second string brumbies side i wonder why they didnt put out the first team because evidently if they had they wouldve won easily
Posted 14:24 12th June 2012
crunchfit says...
Some dodgy play at the breakdown... Does the referee not know the rules?
Posted 13:40 12th June 2012
munkian says...
Not exactly the team that palyed in the Six Nations was it PR ?
And was Pocock refereeing ? Only Aussies get away with murder at the breakdown it seems
Posted 13:18 12th June 2012