Wales hold off Australia to edge Rugby World Cup thriller

TOKYO: Six Nations champions Wales took a massive step towards topping Pool D with a thrilling 29-25 victory over valiant Australia in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday.

The Welsh were 23-8 ahead at half-time but they had to withstand a furious second-half onslaught when Australia fought back to within a point late in the game. Wales, 43-14 winners over Georgia in their opener, will now be confident of finishing their pool unbeaten, with their next opponents Fiji in Oita on October 9 before taking on Uruguay in Kumamoto four days later.

“Relief at the moment,” said Wales coach Warren Gatland, when asked what he was feeling after the match. “Tough second half but the boys pulled through. It was a tough Test match. Very pleased with the first half. We didn’t have a lot of ball in the second half and Australia kept coming at us and putting us under a huge amount of pressure. But we were able to hold on thankfully.”

Australia captain Michael Hooper said the game “came down to the wire”. “Some big calls there. Some went our way, some didn’t,” said Hooper.An electric game full of enterprising, interlinking play from both sides on a balmy late afternoon in the Japanese capital made for a marvellous spectacle of running rugby. The 47,885-strong crowd had barely taken their seats after the anthems when Wales were on the scoreboard.

The ubiquitous Aaron Wainwright turned over esteemed Wallaby jackler Michael Hooper from the kick-off, Gareth Davies finding Dan Biggar in the box for a straightforward drop-goal with just 37 seconds on the clock.

Biggar went wide on his first penalty attempt minutes later as Wales continued to attack with fluidity, George North being brought down with the line begging. The largely red and yellow crowd at Tokyo Stadium traded respective ballads, ‘Hymns and Arias’ for ‘Waltzing Matilda’ with mutual applause for both renditions. A hearty round of collective boos, however, rang out when an image of England coach Eddie Jones was shown on the big screen.

Biggar spurned a second shot at goal as Wales looked to build on their momentum. The ball was quickly recycled from the attacking line-out, Biggar putting in an inch-perfect crosskick that Hadleigh Parkes gathered, the Kiwi-born centre outleaping Marika Koroibete and spinning past Dane Haylett-Petty to dot down in the corner.

The Welsh fly-half hit the extras but saw a second, long-range drop-goal go wide. Hooper escaped punishment for a late, high hit on Biggar, French referee Romain Poite deciding a penalty was sufficient.

Games between the two sides are traditionally tight and so it again proved, Toomua hitting a 69th-minute penalty to reduce Wales’ lead to just one point. Patchell responded in kind, Tomos Williams kept an Australian kick to touch in play and Wales saw out a tense final five minutes to set themselves up as likely Pool D winners.