IRON FIST REVIEWS AUSTRALIA V WALES

VENUE: MILLENNIUM STADIUM

CROWD: 75000

CONDITIONS: FINE

REFEREE: STEVE WALSH

WALES 20 (3) v (25) 32 AUSTRALIA

SCORERS:

Pen: Stirling Mortlock (2nd); 0-3

Pen: Stephen Jones (7th); 3-3

Try: Matt Giteau (16th); 3-8

Con: Mortlock (17th); 3-10

DG: Berrick Barnes (23rd); 3-13

Try: Mortlock (35th); 3-18

Try: Chris Latham (41st); 3-23

Con: Mortlock (42nd); 3-25

Try: Jonathan Thomas (45th); 8-25

Con: James Hook (46th); 10-25

Pen: Hook (54th); 13-25

Try: Latham (60th); 13-30

Con: Giteau (61st); 13-32

Try: Shane Williams (76th); 18-32

Con: Hook (77th); 20-32

STATISTICS:

Scrums - WAL 8 feeds = 7 wins, AUS 4 feeds = 4 wins

Line-outs - WAL 14 feeds = 9 wins, AUS 12 feeds = 10 wins

Rucks/Mauls - WAL 55 , AUS 42

Turnovers - WAL 9, AUS 6

Handling errors - WAL 2, AUS 8

Penalties - WAL 10, AUS 6

Free kicks - WAL 2, AUS 2

Shots at Goal - WAL (4/8), AUS (4/6)

Yellow cards - Drew Mitchell (65th), Nathan Sharpe (75th)

Red cards -

PLAYER ANALYSIS:

Best Front-ranker: Adam Rhys Jones (3)

Best Second-rower: Daniel Vickerman (5)

Best Back-rower: Wycliff Palu (8)

Best Half-back: Berrick Barnes (10)

Best Mid-fielder: Stirling Mortlock (13)

Best at the Back: Chris Latham (15)

CONCLUSION:

Australia took time to kick into gear against Japan. Against stronger opposition, there were still signs of some rustiness. Keep in mind that Australia was one of the few teams who played no warm-up fixtures leading up to the World Cup. Penalty kicks were not always used to proper effect as opposed to feeding a line-out. The Wallabies would end up defending a scrum at the penalty mark. The amount of possession lost when the backs were on attack was most puzzling. Despite still shaking off the cobwebs, the Aussies were just too strong and skilful for Wales to really compete. Even though Wales did produce a good second-half performance they were never in striking distance to wipe out the deficit. Let’s not forget that the final Welsh try should never have been allowed due to a blatant knock-on. What will trouble Australia though is their tight-scrums. Five times they were blown up for illegal scrimmaging. They really sweated blood in this department. They will probably meet England in the Quarter-final. England were on-top against South Africa in the above mentioned area. Phil Vickery will be eligible for selection and Jonny Wilkinson will probably have recovered from whatever injury he is currently suffering from.

Feed back and comments welcome. Contact duncandamon@xsinet.co.za