Joe Schmidt’s debut as coach for Australia saw a 25-16 win over Wales on Saturday in Sydney. Marking their first triumph against a top-tier team since their late 2022 victory against Wales in Cardiff. Key contributors to the Australian victory were Taniela Tupou, Filipo Daugunu, and Tom Wright who helped to secure the Wallabies’ triumph in a less than stellar match against the ninth and tenth ranked global teams. This resulted in Wales suffering an eighth consecutive defeat, and a twelfth loss in a row to Australia on their home ground.
Wales have failed to secure a victory in a Test match since overpowering 2023 World Cup pool competitors, Georgia, nine months previous. Despite this, they gave the revamped Australian team a run for their money at the Allianz Stadium.
Whilst Wales had a comprehensive 40-6 win against Australia at the World Cup, Schmidt had a successful but somewhat lacklustre first game as coach. Key players for the Wallabies included Noah Lolesio, kicking a conversion and a pair of penalties, and Tom Lynagh – Australia World Cup victor Michael Lynagh’s son – who contributed the extra points following Wright’s score.
Wales have not had a win against the Wallabies on Australian soil since 1969, despite threatening to change that with a penalty try and three successful penalty kicks from outhalf Ben Thomas. However, it was Australia who prevailed, with Wright’s score just shy of the 80-minute mark finally hushing Wales’ defiant performance.
Wales made a promising start, taking the lead merely three minutes in when Thomas made the most of a foul by Wallabies prop James Slipper on Dewi Lake. Although, Lolesio quickly answered back.
Lolesio was unsuccessful in a penalty opportunity after four minutes, but shortly after, situated Australia in front thanks to a Welsh transgression in the first scrum, which showcased preliminary signs of technical indiscipline. When captain Lake was warned by referee Pierre Brousset, Australia broke through the Welsh line after 21 minutes, as Tupou scored amidst relentless pressure, with Lolesio’s subsequent conversion broadening the gap by ten points.
Regulation from Brousset took a turn as he sin-binned Welsh prop Gareth Thomas, a setback that the visitors reacted impressively to.
Despite scoring behind Australia’s line through Wing Rio Dyer, Wales found their efforts nullified due to a knock-on by centre Owen Watkin. Nonetheless, Wales received a penalty try as the Wallabies were found guilty of unlawfully collapsing a maul on their own line. This narrowed Australia’s lead down to just three, with the Aussies having Fraser McReight, one of their players, yellow-carded and consequently exiting the field.
Wales faced constant issues with scrummaging, particularly from the robust Tupou, but their performance in other domains such as strong breakdown and defensive work maintained their competitiveness. By half time, they trailed 13-10 but put up an impressive performance in the second quarter.
Early into the second half, Gareth Thomas was replaced by Kemsley Mathias from the Scarlets, after taking a hit to his leg. Wales nonetheless continued their campaign of pressure, with an engaging attack that included Liam Williams and Josh Hathaway making his debut.
Thomas managed to level the score at the 46th minute via a penalty, but Australia pulled ahead again after Daugunu scored a notable solo goal, outrunning defending centre Mason Grady. Wales believed they’d levelled the score when replacement James Botham scored after driving Australia’s forwards back. However, their efforts were dashed as the goal was disallowed for obstruction, leaving Australia to take advantage on a contentious judgement following a review by referee Brousset and the television match official, Marius Jonker.
Thomas managed to complete a penalty treble 14 minutes before the end of the game, ensuing a nail-biting final stretch. However, the final moments belonged to Wright who masterfully rounded off a counterattack, before Lynagh sealed Australia’s victory with a final conversion.