Wallabies steal win from Wales

Updated June 16, 2012 22:42:18

A Mike Harris penalty goal after the full-time siren clinched Australia a 25-23 victory over Wales in the second Test at Docklands in Melbourne.

The Wallabies led 13-7 at half-time before the lead changed hands on several occasions during the second term, before Leigh Halfpenny put the visitors in front 23-22 with a penalty goal.

The Welsh seemed headed for victory until the Wallabies were given a penalty inside opposition half, allowing replacement number 10 Harris to step up and slot the winning three points from close to the sideline.

The two evenly-match sides will meet again in next Saturday afternoon's third and Test at Sydney Football Stadium.

Harris says Wallabies captain David Pocock gave some encouraging words before he kicked his side to victory.

"He came up and just said, 'we'll love you if you hit it or miss it," he told Grandstand.

"So I just went through my normal kicking process and it came off nicely and that was it."

Pocock was relieved to collect the win, citing how an intense a battle it had been against the reigning Six Nations champions.

"Those are the games you want to win. It was an arm wrestle for 80 minutes," he said.

Wales looked to have secured its first win on Australian soil in 43 years but a penalty for collapsing a maul in the final seconds gave Harris the chance for glory.

The visitors showed their trademark fighting spirit but the loss meant a series victory for Australia, which took out the first Test in Brisbane last week.

The lead changed hands nine times as the match went down to the wire.

New father Berrick Barnes looked to inspire the Wallabies to wrap up the series after making it back to Melbourne just a few hours before kick-off and he was named man-of-the-match.

Barnes dashed home to Sydney late on Friday to be at the birth of his first child.

He set up the Wallabies' only try of the match just before half-time when he threw a superb dummy before offloading to a rampaging Rob Horne.

He also added 17 points through five penalties from six attempts and a conversion before being replaced by Harris with seven minutes remaining.

Wallabies rookie Cooper Vuna, playing only his second Test, made a costly blunder when he took out Welsh full-back Halfpenny in the air and was yellow-carded.

Halfpenny kicked that penalty which put his side ahead at the 60th minute 20-19.

Wales started both halves on fire, scoring within the opening three minutes of each.

While he had an excellent game, Barnes made a poor start when he kicked the ball out on the full from outside his team's 22.

Wales then piled the pressure on the home side and, after eight phases hammering the Wallabies defence, winger George North found a hole to plant the ball across the line in the third minute of the match.

The second Welsh try came two minutes into the second half when Australian half-back Will Genia threw a pass to no one which was scooped up by his opposite Mike Phillips, who found Jonathan Davies.

The centre toed it ahead twice and beat Wallabies lock Rob Simmons to touch down.

The Wallabies threw everything at the visitors as the clock wound down and looked like they would have to settle for a loss.

But then Harris stepped up to nail the kick and break Welsh hearts.

Australia: 25 (R Horne try; B Barnes con, 5 pens, M Harris pen)

Wales: 23 (G North, J Davies tries; L Halfpenny 2 cons, 3 pens)

AAP/ABC

Tags: rugby-union, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia, wales, united-kingdom

First posted June 16, 2012 21:50:43

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Pocock ready to steal McCaw's thunder

Updated October 12, 2011 22:29:33

Australian flanker David Pocock believes the battle against Richie McCaw and the All Black back row to dominate the breakdown could be decisive in this weekend's rugby World Cup semi-final at Eden Park.

The 23-year-old, who has already played New Zealand 11 times in his short Test career, clearly dislikes talking about himself and the role he plays as the team's poacher in the tackle area but accepts he will be targeted on Sunday.

"It is fairly standard these days for openside flankers to cop a bit of heat from the opposition and, I mean, they've got Richie McCaw, too, so it is going to be a really important part of the game," he said.

"Both teams know that and in the past it has been a big part of the winning team... the way they've played, they've dominated the breakdown."

It is hard to argue against the thesis that Zimbabwean-born Pocock is the most influential player in Australia's run to the last four.

Absent through injury when the Irish back row blew away the Wallabies on their way to a stunning pool stage upset, Pocock returned for the final two group victories and then played a major role in the quarter-final win over South Africa.

Against the Springboks last weekend, Pocock made 27 tackles and missed none, and, having spent most of the afternoon bent over at the breakdown with his hands on the ball, was credited with three turnovers.

Now rivalling McCaw as one of the world's best openside flankers, Pocock has learned the downside to success too with accusations of cheating that have dogged the All Blacks captain for many years.

"I think it's fairly standard for most number sevens," Pocock said.

"It's been pretty funny checking Twitter for the South African fans, it's all been in good humour."

Another thing Pocock has perhaps learned from McCaw is that number sevens should always pay their respects to the opposition and, crucially, the referee before the game.

"The All Blacks probably have a different set of threats," he said.

"They use a bit more footwork and you probably have to say that their work at the breakdown, across the board, is probably a bit better and more contested.

"We're going to have to step up at the breakdown again and Craig Joubert's a great ref, so we're expecting him to be good there."

The "respects" rule also extended to questions about whether he was now better than three-times world player of the year McCaw, particularly as the All Black has been carrying a foot injury.

"I don't get involved in that kind of thing, it's such a big game for the team, and that's pretty much all I'm focusing on at the moment," Pocock said.

"At this stage of the tournament, there wouldn't be too many blokes who aren't carrying some sort of injury.

"Come game day, everyone puts that behind them and you don't notice anything."

As for questions about whether good opensides were so effective because they knew the rules better than the match officials, that was clearly one to meet with a very straight bat.

"I've got no idea, I guess, I really don't know," he said.

"I leave that to you guys to discuss."

Reuters

Tags: rugby-union-world-cup, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand, australia

First posted October 12, 2011 19:43:31

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