• Rugby World Cup 2019: Weary Wales prove credentials in ending Wallabies woe

    Australia have repeatedly got the better of Wales at recent Rugby World Cups, but that changed in a hard-fought tussle on Sunday.
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    Wales were beaten in three of their four Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, but this, a pool game against Australia, was different.

    The expectation had been building for some time, with the winners almost certain to top Pool D and therefore avoid a daunting path through the tournament that would likely include England in the quarter-finals and New Zealand in the semis.

    “If Wales can win [against Australia] then I expect them to do good things,” former captain Sam Warburton told Omnisport.

    And just as at the Six Nations, where they celebrated a stunning Grand Slam triumph, Wales stepped up when it mattered most and just about got the job done against regular World Cup foes.

    Wales had been beaten by the Wallabies at three consecutive World Cups but ended that run in battling fashion, having also scraped through in the same fixture last November for their first victory over Australia in almost 10 years.

    Warren Gatland’s side have become the men for the big occasion over the past 12 months and yet may not now have to play an elite side again until the semi-finals.

    Perhaps this result says more about Australia, who attempted a brave fightback but won just four Tests in 2018. Michael Cheika’s side did not lack for courage but some basic errors at key times meant their World Cup chances took a major hit.

    If Wales are to become just the second team – after England in 2003 – to follow up a Six Nations or Rugby Championship success by becoming world champions, it was vital to end their Australia hoodoo listed below.
     

    2007: Wales 20-32 AUSTRALIA (pool stage)

    After consecutive quarter-final appearances in the prior two finals, Wales would have expected to progress from their pool in 2007. But they were hit by a setback when Australia tore through them in a brutal first-half showing.

    The Welsh were 25-3 down at the break and left to tussle with Fiji for second place. A painful late defeat to the Flying Fijians in their final pool match resulted in an early exit.

    2011: Wales 18-21 AUSTRALIA (bronze final)

    Wales got revenge over Fiji four years later with a pool-stage thrashing but they could not get one over Australia. They avoided the Wallabies in a run to the semi-finals, but the sides’ respective defeats to France and New Zealand set up a bronze final meeting.

    The Welsh attack could not fire as it had earlier in the tournament and Australia eased to victory, with Leigh Halfpenny’s try rescoring some balance to the scoreline but coming far too late.

    2015: AUSTRALIA 15-6 Wales (pool stage)

    Neither Australia nor Wales were the big-name casualties in a packed Pool A, as England fell at the first hurdle on home turf, but a Twickenham clash to close their pool campaigns would decide who topped the group.

    There was not a single try but Bernard Foley’s boot proved the difference as the Wallabies defended doggedly, avoiding South Africa in the last eight and enjoying a run all the way to the final. The Springboks dumped out Wales, who could understandably be sick of the sight of Australia by this stage.

    2019: Australia 25-29 WALES (pool stage)

    Coming into their second pool match as Six Nations Grand Slam champions and having beaten Australia less than 12 months previously, Wales were finally ready to best the Wallabies on the big stage, with the boots of Dan Biggar and Rhys Patchell this time crucial.

    Wales had to withstand second-half pressure but got the job done and might now be able to target a serious push for the title…

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